Peterson Claims Seventh CT Victory With Second Margaret River Win
Lakey Peterson (USA) claimed her seventh CT event win at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, adding a second victory at the venue to her 2019 win. One of the longest-standing CT members, Peterson defeated a trio of three younger goofy-footers, Erin Brooks (CAN), Caroline Marks (USA) and Sawyer Lindblad (USA), on her road to the Final. Today’s win marked the 31-year-old’s first repeat success at a venue after topping the podium at a wide variety of locations across her 13 seasons on Tour. Admittedly being scared of the lineup at Main Break in the early part of her career, Peterson has come to love the event as one of her top-performing Tour stops.
“I can’t believe it, really. It just kind of happened this week, it all fell into place. When the ocean’s working with you, it’s a nice thing,” Peterson said. “I work really hard, we all do, it’s just nice when it pays off. I’ve been doing this a really long time, and it’s cool to prove to myself, like, I can still do this. I can still win these events. There’s a lot of chitter chatter about all the young girls, and they’re amazing, and they push me so much, but I’m still here. I love it here. It’s beautiful, it’s gorgeous. The people are amazing. They show up every single time. To win twice out here is a dream. If you would have told me that when I was 10-years-old, there’s no way I would have believed you. Any young girls or boys out there that have dreams, don’t ever give up on them because things happen in life that you don’t expect if you keep working hard.”
Peterson utilised her years of experience competing at Main Break to select prime opportunities to strike. After defeating Lindblad, the 2024 event runner-up, in the Semifinals by attacking the right with her unique blend of power and flow, Peterson opened the Final on a left. With only a small score locking in, Peterson returned to her forte, building her scoreline with each wave surfed. In the meantime, Luana Silva (BRA) posted similar but smaller scores than the Californian. Close to the five-minute mark, Silva unleashed on the biggest wave of the Final to earn its highest number, a 6.83, and claim the lead. Needing a 6.01, Peterson soon replied with an aggressive two-turn combo, with the number arriving as a 6.40 to deliver the event win.
“It was hard out there. It’s beautiful and there’s good ones, but it’s hard to find anything with a good wall,” Peterson continued. “That’s why you do it, though. Those are the moments. I knew she was going to get the score and I knew I was going to have under five minutes to get, to try again. All the glory to God, that was amazing, sent me the right wave at the right time. Huge shout out to Luana [Silva]. We train together all the time and she’s made three Finals in the last year. I just told her that her win’s coming. She’s surfing so solid and she’s such a cool person. I’m psyched though, that was so, so sick.”
Silva Continues Rapid Rise With Runner-Up Finish at Margaret River
Luana Silva (BRA) furthered her best start to a season yet with the third CT runner-up finish of her career. The 21-year-old has bettered her rankings across each of her three prior years on Tour, placing in the Top 10 for the first time in 2025. Since making her first CT Finals Day with a Quarterfinal finish at Sunset Beach in her Rookie season, Silva has continued to refine her powerful approach in heavy waves to now be considered amongst the best on Tour. The Brazilian has defeated all three of Australia’s World Champions currently on Tour across the two events so far in the 2026 season, proving herself to be a contender in this year’s World Title race.
“It’s been an incredible start to the year,” Silva said. “I couldn’t thank Leandro [Dora] and Penguin [Henrique Pinguim], that I have by my side this year, enough. I wanted to go one more so bad, but if it wasn’t me, it had to be Lakey [Peterson]. She shares Leandro with me. We work together, she’s my sparring partner. It’s a full circle moment. I used to watch Lakey’s movie, ‘Zero to 100’ on Netflix, and Nike ‘Leave a Message’. Her and Carissa [Moore]’s parts were my favorite in the movie. I’m really happy for her. I’m really stoked with my performance, and I’m really excited for this next year.”
Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Final Results
1. Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.23
2. Luana Silva (BRA) 11.83 Western Australia
Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Semifinal Results HEAT
1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.50 DEF. Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 9.50 HEAT
2: Luana Silva (BRA) 14.27 DEF. Caitlin Simmers (USA) 13.66
