Gabriela Bryan (HAW) made it back-to-back victories at the event that she has come to define in the modern era. The 23-year-old competed in her first CT Final in Margaret River in 2022, doing exactly what she needed to keep herself on Tour and earn the Rookie of the Year title that season. Bryan then earned her first-ever CT event win at the location in 2024, before now backing it up a year later. Having been at risk of the Mid-season Cut in each previous showing, Bryan currently sits in a very different position. In 2025, Bryan returned to Western Australia wearing the Yellow Leader Jersey, largely thanks to her win in El Salvador. Bryan will now retain her status as World No. 1 headed into Stop No. 8, the Lexus Trestles Pro, after her third CT victory today.
“It’s incredible, I mean, I tried not to think about going back-to-back, but how cool it would have been to see my name twice on the stairs, one after the other,” Bryan said. “So yeah, it’s a really cool accomplishment. I don’t feel like [the World No. 1]. I am, but yeah, yellow, wow. I try to just tell myself it’s red, but I’m getting used to it. Every heat I have with it I get more comfortable. I thought I lost it over at Burleigh and then to come back with a win and now to wear it at Lowers. I can’t wait to compete there, I haven’t competed there since I was a junior.”
Since sharing their first major Final together in the 2021 US Open of Surfing, the pure power of Bryan and the style and flow of Caity Simmers (USA) have been distinct contrasts. Though Simmers’ career has taken a steeper trajectory since winning that event, Bryan went on to win the Challenger Series that year. More than ever, the 2025 season is highlighting the fact that the two are defining modern-day performance in surfing – to the point that for two events running, the pair have been sitting with equal points in the rankings. In a battle for who would break ahead of their deadlock, Bryan opened with a near-perfect 9.50, the highest single-wave score of her career. Earning the score through a series of four full-power gouges, Bryan quickly backed it up with a 7.83, to leave Simmers, the reigning World Champion, in need of a combination of two high-scoring waves to take the lead. Though Simmers had opened up with a 7.17 of her own, the 19-year-old was unable to crack into the elevated range of Bryan, who had also earned an excellent 16.34 heat total in her Semifinal defeat of Lakey Peterson (USA).
“I’m honestly speechless, I don’t even know what to think,” Bryan said. “That 9.50 was just the wave. I turned around and that thing just came right at me. I saw the wave and it had a perfect line. I just kind of went out there, like just got to surf my heart out, and that’s what I did on that wave. And then I was lucky enough to get a backup before it went flat. So yeah, I’m so stoked.”
Reigning World Champion Caity Simmers Returns to the Podium in Margaret River
Caity Simmers (USA) returned to the podium for the first time since winning the second event of the season, the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro, to appear in her third Final this year. After a strong start in 2025, Simmers had been unable to break out of the Round of 16 in Australia but returned to form in Margaret River. Simmers defeated a series of solid performers, including Brisa Hennessy (CRC), Luana Silva (BRA), and Bronte Macaulay (AUS) to make her first Margaret River Pro Final with the fast, stylish rail work that has come to be expected of the 2024 World Champion.
“It was just cool that we got a couple waves in that heat, because it was pretty inconsistent, and there actually ended up being waves in our heat,” Simmers said. “But yeah, I think we have two different styles of surfing, and we both can get good scores from it. That’s the beauty of surfing, there’s not a straightforward way to do it. And [Gabriela Bryan] just won fair and square, there was no other way to put it. But yeah, it’s really fun to watch. I had a perfect view of both of her waves. After I got my waves, I just turned around, and she’s getting the 9.50, and then her next wave, too. I literally watched both of them from paddling out, and I was just like, well, whatever.”
Bronte Macaulay Earns Excellent Third-Place Result in Wildcard Run
The two standout surfers from the women’s Quarterfinals, Bronte Macaulay (AUS) and Lakey Peterson (USA), were unable to tap into the same rhythm that saw them post some of the highest numbers of the previous round. The strong showing in the event for Macaulay was a fitting finish to the career of the local Wildcard and former CT veteran, who had stated that this would likely be her last time in the competition jersey at the CT level. Currently studying to be a teacher, Macaulay is now pouring her energy into coaching the next generation of women from Western Australia.
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Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Final Results:
1 – Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 17.33
2 – Caitlin Simmers (USA) 12.84
Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 14.00 DEF. Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 9.34
HEAT 2: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 16.34 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 11.64
