“This energy comes from (male) coaches… I’m
begging them to bring their skills in the air to heat surfing.”
I will confess that I did not watch every heat of the
women’s Meo Rip Curl Pro held in Portugal over many days
this past week. If you like your surf contests doled out a little
at a time like the food at a small plates wine bar, then the Meo
Rip Curl Pro was the contest for you. I am not a small plates kind
of girl.
If you enjoy two-turn combos all day, every day, then you are
also in luck! There were a lot of two-turn combos in the women’s
heats in Portugal. A pedestrian sort of affair, the beachbreak fest
in Portugal didn’t really tell us much about who is the best in
women’s surfing right now, but it did tell us what’s missing.
Women’s surfing needs to get into the air, like yesterday.
Perhaps the most anticipated heat came in the quarterfinals when
world number one Caity Simmers met Erin Brooks. Like most of the
contest, it took place in sloppy, pick-and-choose beach break
conditions. Caity had one of her falling heats. Her mistakes make
her interesting, but sometimes frustrating to watch. She hit a
couple of one-turn bangers, but couldn’t find enough open face to
do anything special.
Erin won the heat against Caity on the strength of a long left.
She surfed the shit out of it and deserved the score. But I would
also like to tie her ams to her sides. They are very animated! I
would like Erin’s arms to chill the fuck out.
The notable characteristic of Erin’s surfing, though, is her
speed. She springs off the bottom and her turns flow one into the
next in a fluid blur of motion. Erin’ on rail, and she’s hauling
ass. She rightly advanced to the semis ahead of Caity.
In her time on Tour, Gabriela Bryan has become one of the most
consistent surfers in the draw, and she used that trait to her
advantage against Erin in their semifinal match-up. Erin had some
heavy one-hit slams on her backhand. She knows how to get all up in
it on her close-out turns. She’s exciting to watch, but couldn’t
really put together more than one turn at a time in this heat.
Imperturbable, Gabriela steadily steamrolled her way though. She
managed to find enough open face to put up a pair of two-turn
combinations that got her the scores. It wasn’t super exciting
surfing, but it was smooth, technically sharp, and she got it done.
Gabriela has power to burn and she used it well to land some
banging close-out hits.
On the other side of the draw, Molly Picklum opened her heat
against Caroline by pulling into a heavy barrel. She bobbled the
take-off and slid down the face, but she still got in there. Too
bad she couldn’t make it out of that one — it could well have won
her the heat. Molly didn’t take another chance on the barrels and
lost to Caroline’s consistent turns in a low-scoring heat.
The final between Caroline and Gabriela unfolded slowly, like
one of those big Russian novels where nothing much happens for 200
pages. Honestly, I’ve never gotten past the first 200 pages, so
I’ve never learned if it gets better. This heat did not. Caroline
won it with a 7.90 total heat score to Gabriela’s 6.97. The
conditions did not excite. They did some turns. Some turns were
better than other turns.
On a whim, I jumped over to see what the men’s final looked
like. I do not typically compare the men’s and women’s heats. I
stand firmly on the ground that they are separate sports, each on
their own trajectories. But I was curious to see what the men found
to do with this unpromising set-up. Did they also do some
turns?
Well, sure.
In recent years, women’s surfing has progressed significantly at
places like Teahupo’o and Pipe. It’s hard to do everything all at
once but the air game in women’s heat surfing continues to
languish. A punchy beachbreak like Portugal should yield at least,
something? I would think? It did not. Instead, it was turns and
more turns, with a side order of turns.
From their freesurfing clips, the women in the new generation
can clearly land airs. They’ve all done it. Caity even manages to
look super stylish up there. Erin can fly. I am begging them to
please bring their skills in the air to their heat surfing. It
could be fun! Why not make heat surfing fun? Please give me this
one nice thing.
At the moment, there remains an essential conservatism to the
approach that many of the women are taking to their heats. I can
only imagine some of this energy comes from coaches who are just
trying to help them get through the draw. I get the importance of
taking the long view.
I would also argue that the cut reinforces safety surfing rather
than encouraging progression. If you need to stay in the top ten to
make the cut, you’re going to take the safest route possible to
that destination. On the women’s side, the small draw at the
Championship Tour level combined with the cut is quite simply
holding back progression. There’s no incentive to risk.
In 2026, the WSL plans to expand the women’s Tour draw to 24.
I’m hoping that creates more space for the women at the top of the
sport to push their surfing. They’re doing exactly that when it
comes to barrels. Airs next, please.
After the Meo Rip Curl Pro, Caity still sits at the top of the
world rankings. Just 300 points separate Molly and Caroline in a
close battle for second. Tyler Wright and Gabriela round out the
top five, with Erin just outside the top ranks in sixth. Finals day
is still well within reach for Erin, who will thoroughly enjoy the
lefts at Cloudbreak, as if she needed any extra incentive.
New for this year, the cut arrives after seven events.
Currently, Sawyer Linblad, Vahine Fierro, Lakey Peterson, and
newcomer Bella Kenworthy round out the top ten. It’s surprising to
see Brisa Hennessy below the line after her consistency for the
past few seasons, while both Tati West and Bettylou Sakura Johnson
are stuck in the back seat of the strugglebus.
Next up is El Salvador, where the sportswashing is
heavy and the rocks are slippery. The waiting period
runs from 2-12 April. The right point offers a good chance for
Lakey and Bella to put some distance between themselves and the cut
line. At the top, Caroline will certainly put pressure on Caity and
Molly.
I don’t expect to see airs on a right point, but a girl can
dream, right? We were promised jet packs and I’m still here
waiting.
