Before the Rio Pro, Tya Zebrowski had only one heat win all season out of six tries. As the youngest surfer to ever qualify for the Championship Tour at 14 years old, the rookie unsurprisingly struggled against veteran surfers, some more than twice her age.
In my event preview, I had suspected that the beachbreak conditions and variable forecast in Saquarema could open the door for the young women surfers to break through the veteran blockade. But I thought it would be the past world champs, Caity Simmers, Molly Picklum, or Caroline Marks, who did the damage. Instead, Zebrowski is having her breakout moment.
Zebrowski, 15, who grew up between Teahupo’o and Hossegor, has a chance to make history as the youngest ever to win a CT event. Carissa Moore (2010), Caroline Marks (2019), and Caity Simmers (2023) all won CT events at 17. Moore made the finals at the 2007 Roxy Pro on Australia’s Gold Coast at 14, but lost to Chelsea Hedges.
The finals appearance shot Zebrowski up six spots in the ranking to number 15, just one spot short of the requalification cutoff. She’ll take on another young surfer, 20-year-old Sawyer Lindblad, in the final when competition resumes. Lindblad, who also made a final at the New Zealand Pro, has quietly moved into the top five, coming into her own during her third season on tour.
The Rio Pro was called off today, leaving the men’s semifinals, men’s final, and women’s final to finish the event. Tomorrow, the swell is forecast to drop off a bit, then there are two days of dubious wind directions. Friday is looking good with 4 to 6 feet of swell and side-to-offshore winds. We’ll see if the WSL decides to wait till Friday, or if a window presents itself to finish the event before then.
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