• 2025 Lexus WSL Awards Celebrate Groundbreaking 2024 Season
• Former WSL Champions, Proven Title Contenders, and Hungry Rookies Ready for 2025 Season Start
• Lexus Pipe Pro Wildcards, Replacement Surfers, and Injury Updates

A remarkable year of surfing, and the world’s best that emerged from its groundbreaking feats, were recognized tonight at the 2025 Lexus WSL Awards. The world’s best surfers gathered for a beautiful evening that celebrated the 2024 season and welcomed the beginning of the 2025 CT season.

The 2024 WSL Champions, Longboard Champions, and World Junior Champions, were recognized for their achievements, along with the 2024 Challenger Series winners, Rookies of the Year, and Vissla CT Shaper of the Year. The year’s awe-inspiring moments, top performances, and pivotal breakthroughs were also honored throughout the night’s proceedings.

Additionally, the WSL Impact Award was awarded to Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) and Liam O’Brien (AUS). The WSL Impact Award recognizes individual surfers who demonstrate the greatest impact and outstanding effort to inspire, educate, and empower the global surf community to protect our ocean.

Lexus WSL Awards | 2024 World Champions, Winners, and Honorees:

• WSL World Champions: Caity Simmers (USA) and John John Florence (HAW)
• WSL Longboard Champions: Rachael Tilly (USA) and Taylor Jensen (USA)
• WSL World Junior Champions: Luana Silva (BRA) and Bronson Meydi (INA)
• Challenger Series Winners: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Samuel Pupo (BRA)
• 2024 CT Rookies of the Year: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) and Crosby Colapinto (USA)
• 2024 VISSLA CT Shaper of the Year: Matt “Mayhem” Biolos

Rookie sensations Erin Brooks (CAN), Bella Kenworthy (USA), and Vahine Fierro (FRA) join the strong women’s field that includes reigning WSL Champion Caity Simmers (USA), World Title contenders Molly Picklum (AUS) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA), and others, all looking to push the sport to new bounds. A momentous win for Simmers at the 2024 Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI set the tone for a ground-breaking season and now an all-star cast of women are set to pick up where they left off in 2024.

The Brazilian Storm witnessed a resurgence in 2024. Former CT veterans Ian Gouveia (BRA), Miguel Pupo (BRA), and Alejo Muniz (BRA), rejoin the Tour for 2025, along with proven threat Samuel Pupo (BRA), and rookie upstart Edgard Groggia (BRA). They add to the likes of two-time World Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA), 2019 World Champion Italo Ferreira (BRA), and progressive sensations Yago Dora (BRA) and João Chianca (BRA).

However, they will face former event winners Barron Mamiya (HAW), Jack Robinson (AUS), and 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), alongside the rookie class of Joel Vaughan (AUS), George Pittar (AUS), Jackson Bunch (HAW), Marco Mignot (FRA), and Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX) who are all looking to shake up the ranks in their full-time CT debuts.

Kelly Slater (USA) and Moana Jones Wong (HAW), the 2022 event winners, have been announced as wildcards for the 2025 Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI, bringing some of the most extensive experience possible to either field.

Slater will enter his 33rd CT event at Pipeline in 2025. The eight-time Pipe Pro winner and 11-time World Champion may have stepped away from full-time competition in 2024, but at 52-years-old Slater remains as competitive as ever and at the top of his game in waves of consequence. Meanwhile, the women’s draw will once again have to contend with Jones Wong’s extensive experience and proven track record. Jones Wong enters her fourth Pipe Pro more determined than ever to back up her 2022 victory.

Reigning WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW) announced his withdrawal from the 2025 season with intentions of returning in 2026, but will enter the Lexus Pipe Pro as the local wildcard in search of a second CT event title at Pipe.

Withdrawals from three-time World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA), Johanne Defay (FRA), and Crosby Colapinto (USA) have opened spots in the draw for 2025 WSL Replacement surfers, Ian Gentil (HAW) and Nadia Erostarbe (ESP), along with 2024 CT rookie Eli Hanneman (HAW).

Erostarbe’s CT debut comes after an extremely consistent run on the Challenger Series that was ultimately hindered by injury. No stranger to heavy barrels, the 24-year-old Spaniard will be drawing from experience competing in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Teahupo’o when she takes to the water in Hawaiʻi.

The Maui duo of Gentil and Hanneman return to Pipeline ready to make their mark in 2025. After missing the Mid-season Cut in 2024, the pair are hoping to capitalize with big performances on home soil. A Semifinal finish in the 2024 Lexus Pipe Pro capped one of Gentil’s strongest showings yet on the CT and he’ll be hoping to back up that feat, especially knowing that he has the chance to requalify. Gentil, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, has already been confirmed to replace an injured Medina for the first three events of the season, providing a big opportunity to reclaim his place on Tour.

The world-class CT field includes qualifiers from the 2024 CT and Challenger Series. These competitors will face WSL Season Wildcards, as well as event wildcards. The 2025 WSL Season Wildcards include, 2018 World Title runner-up Lakey Peterson (USA), two-time World Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA), 2024 WSL World Junior Champion Luana Silva (BRA), and João Chianca (BRA).

A total of 36 men and 18 women will compete in the first seven competitions, earning points at each venue to add towards their WSL CT rankings – except for the event wildcards, who are not eligible to earn points. Competitors will vie for these valuable points leading up to the Mid-season Cut which takes place following stop No. 7, the Western Australia Margaret River Pro. The fields are then reduced to 24 men and 12 women for the remaining four events to determine who earns their place among the WSL Final 5 to compete at the 2025 WSL Finals. The 2025 World Champions will be crowned in the winner-take-all format at the WSL Finals which will take place at the world-renowned Cloudbreak in Fiji.

The 2025 CT begins at one of the world’s most famous reef breaks, the Banzai Pipeline. Known for its heaving barrel and the ultimate testament to heavy-water charging, Pipe has created some of surfing’s most memorable moments, from World Title showdowns to a clash of giants setting the tone for a new season.

With an event window running from January 27 through February 8, 2025, the world’s best will be put to the test. Last season featured a historic year of competition, witnessing Caitlin Simmers (USA) and Barron Mamiya (HAW) win in pumping conditions. Simmers, along with Molly Picklum (AUS) and Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW), pushed the envelope of women charging to its fullest. Now, the reigning WSL Champion, Simmers, and Mamiya look to do what few have done and earn back-to-back victories at one of the world’s heaviest waves, where legends have been forged.

WSL Fantasy Surfing is now live for the 2025 season. Fans can create their leagues, invite friends, and build teams. WSL Fantasy for the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI will lock at the start of the men’s Round of 32 and women’s Round of 16.

Learn more at CTFantasy.WorldSurfLeague.com.

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfing. The WSL oversees surfing’s global competitive landscape and sets the standard for elite performance in the most dynamic playing field in all of sports. With a firm commitment to its values, the WSL prioritizes the protection of the ocean, equality, and the sport’s rich heritage, while championing progression and innovation.