Oceanside’s Caity Simmers will enter the Lexus WSL Finals as the No. 1 seed. The competition window opens on Friday, September 6, 2024. Photo: © WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) will soon be crowning the 2024 World Champions at the Lexus WSL Finals. Featuring the men’s and women’s Final 5, the winner-take-all competition will take place on a single day during the waiting period of September 6 through September 14, 2024.
In its fourth year, the 2024 Lexus WSL Finals holds the potential to be the most exciting yet. With almost all 10 qualified surfers competing for at least their second time, the experience gained in previous events lends to even more intense clashes between the world’s best surfers.
Fans will have many different ways to participate in the event. Most notably, Lower Trestles is open to the public, offering prime viewing of the competitors, putting it all on the line for the chance to be crowned the 2024 World Champion.
The Final 5 are Locked In and Ready to Go
This year’s Final 5 surfers have risen to the top across a long season of diverse waves in wide-ranging locations, from Hawaii to Australia, Europe to Tahiti, the Americas to Fiji. It has taken serious dedication to reach this point, and every single surfer will be bringing their best in the battle for the World Titles.
Each qualified surfer is well-versed in the highest level of competition; nine of the 10 have previously competed in the Lexus WSL Finals, and all 10 are Olympic surfers. Three are World Champions, and four have felt the weight of an Olympic medal around their necks.
In only her second season on the Championship Tour (CT), Caity Simmers (USA) arrives as the No. 1 seed, but the 18-year-old Californian will face stiff competition from a stacked field, which includes Caroline Marks (USA), the defending World Champion, who is sitting one position higher than where she claimed victory from in 2023 and has since added an Olympic Gold Medal to her accolades. Joining them will be Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy (CRC), Australia’s Molly Picklum (AUS), and Olympic Silver Medalist Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA).
Men’s No. 1 seed John John Florence (HAW), the two-time World Champion, is the sole surfer not to have previously competed in the Finals format. His quest for a long-sought third World Title will be challenged by the local knowledge of his Paris 2024 Olympic teammate Griffin Colapinto (USA). On top of that, Olympic Silver Medalist Jack Robinson (AUS) and his Olympic teammate Ethan Ewing (AUS) will be fighting hard to reclaim the World Title for Australia, while 2019 World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Italo Ferreira (BRA) will seek to retain it for Brazil, who have won every men’s World Title since 2018.
Breaking Down the Lexus WSL Finals Format
The fourth iteration of the Lexus WSL Finals will utilize the same overall format as previous events, with the World No. 1 ranked surfers slotted directly into the Title Match, where a best two-of-three-heat showdown will determine the World Champion. The remaining surfers enter the Lexus WSL Finals bracket based on their year-end rankings.
The Matches will feature a traditional heat format, with two competitors seeking to lock in their two highest-scoring waves, each wave out of a possible 10 points for a possible 20-point heat total.
The first matches on both sides will feature goofy-footed Brazilian Olympic Medalists taking on regular-footed Australian World Title hopefuls. In women’s Match 1, Olympic Silver Medalist Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) will take on Molly Picklum (AUS). On the men’s side, Match 1 will feature the contrasting styles of 2019 World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Italo Ferreira (BRA) and 2023 World Title runner-up Ethan Ewing (AUS). Weston-Webb, Ewing, and Ferreira have previously battled through to the Title Match, and they will bring that experience straight into the first heats.
As established last season, the No. 4 seed will have pre-determined priority over the No. 5 seed to start Match 1. Men’s and women’s Match 1 will be the only heats to have this pre-determined priority established.
Whoever wins Match 1 will advance to face World No. 3 in Match 2; Brisa Hennessy (CRC above) for the women and Jack Robinson (AUS) for the men.
The winner of Match 2 will face off against the No. 2 ranked surfer; reigning World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Caroline Marks (USA) for the women and Griffin Colapinto (USA) for the men. The winner of Match 3 will then move on to the best-of-three Title Match, where they will face World No. 1, Caity Simmers (USA), and two-time World Champion John John Florence (HAW). The first surfer to win two out of three Title Matches becomes the 2024 World Champion.
The crowning of the 2024 World Champions will immediately follow the final Title Match of the day.
Lower Trestles, the Pinnacle of High-Performance Surfing
The premier high-performance wave in Southern California, Lower Trestles, is often described as the skate park of surfing. As one of the primary venues for surf competition in North America, the cobblestone peak has played host to decades worth of champions being crowned, including the World Champions for the past three years.
The full judging criteria of speed, power, and flow comes into play at Lowers, with a surfer’s complete repertoire often being displayed. Large airs and speedy, full rail turns tend to receive the highest numbers, especially when seamlessly connected in the flow of the wave.
The break offers surfers the chance to go right or left, with endless options of maneuvers on offer, all within a stone’s throw of the crowd on the beach. The right is typically the primary scoring wave, but the left has come into play over the years, including aiding Gabriel Medina (BRA) in claiming his third World Title in 2021.
Surf Night Offers the Opportunity for Fans to Connect With Their Heroes
An exciting new addition to the Lexus WSL Finals in 2024, Surf Night is a free, family-friendly gathering that will kick off the event with a celebration of the world’s best surfers and the San Clemente community.
On Tuesday, September 3, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PDT, Surf Night will offer fans and their families the opportunity to connect with their heroes, collect autographs, and enjoy a fun night of music, giveaways, food, and more. Featuring all 10 of the women’s and men’s Final 5 surfers, it’s the ideal way to celebrate the World Title contenders, providing a memorable evening of surfing before the showdown for the Title kicks off.
