• World Champions John John Florence and Stephanie Gilmore Take Competition Pause for 2025
• Injury Forces Gabriel Medina to Withdraw from First Three CT Events
• Mexico’s Alan Cleland Jr. Joins Incoming Rookie Class
• Kelly Slater and Moana Jones Wong Confirmed as Lexus Pipe Pro Wildcards
• Nadia Erostarbe and Eli Hanneman Announced as Pipe Replacements

Due to injury, Gabriel Medina (BRA) has withdrawn from the first three events of the season, and Crosby Colapinto (USA) and Johanne Defay (FRA) have withdrawn from Stop No. 1, the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI.

“Recent years have seen changes in the lives of some of our iconic World Champions as they enter new seasons in their personal lives,” Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Commissioner. “While we miss them during their time away from competition, we’re excited for the doors that open up as a result. The 2025 CT schedule is packed with waves that will provide a dynamic canvas for the nine rookies, many of whom join the ranks of the world’s best surfers already backed by experience and impressive accolades. We’re looking forward to the excitement that all of our surfers, both new and returning, will deliver as they take on the CT in 2025.”

Three-time World Champion John John Florence (HAW) announced a break for the 2025 CT season after deciding to take on new projects outside of the jersey. The 32-year-old and his wife Lauryn welcomed their son, Darwin, into the world last year.

“I’ll be focusing on surfing in a different way this year,” said Florence. “I am looking to explore, find new waves, and push my surfing as far as possible. I’ll be filming into some new projects and sharing my adventures along the way – and intend to compete for another World Title in 2026.”

A highly consistent 2024, his 12th season on the CT, saw Florence win the Surf City El Salvador Pro and place runner-up in three additional events. He became the 2024 World Champion in his first Lexus WSL Finals appearance, seven years after his last World Title. His two previous Titles came in back-to-back seasons, in 2016 and 2017. Although injury dominated many of the intervening years, in 2020, Florence achieved his major goal of winning the prestigious CT event that runs on his doorstep at Pipeline.

Florence will receive the 2026 Season Wildcard, which will allow him to compete in the 2026 CT season.

As this is a pre-season withdrawal, Florence’s spot, under the WSL Rule Book, continues down the 2024 CT rankings. The next qualifier on the CT is Samuel Pupo (BRA), who has already qualified as No. 1 on the 2024 Challenger Series. Pupo’s replacement of Florence via the CT opens the position to the next in line on the Challenger Series, Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX).

The first Mexican surfer to join the CT full-time, Cleland will make his Tour debut in Florence’s backyard at Pipeline. Long known as an underground charger, the 22-year-old experienced a breakthrough season in 2024, competing in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 shortly before claiming victory in the Lexus US Open of Surfing, the first from his nation to accomplish either feat.

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), the eight-time World Champion and one of the greatest surfers of all time, will continue her break from full-time competition on the CT into 2025.

“After careful consideration, I’ve decided to take another season away from the WSL Tour,” said Gilmore. “This time will allow me to focus on healing from some lingering injuries and redirect my energy toward continuing my adventures of surfing around the globe. I’m deeply grateful for the unwavering support of my sponsors, and I wish all the athletes on tour the best of luck this season!”

Gilmore will receive the 2026 Season Wildcard, which will allow her to compete in the 2026 CT season.

As Gilmore had been assigned the same wildcard for 2025, her position was open to be determined by the WSL Commissioner’s Office, which awarded it to Luana Silva (BRA) as the next in line on the 2024 CT rankings (the next in line on the CT rankings would be Lakey Peterson, who was already assigned the 2025 Season Wildcard. With Peterson’s qualification, the position continues down to Silva).

The next in line on the CT rankings, Silva experienced her best season yet in 2024, placing in two CT Quarterfinals prior to the Mid-season Cut, which she narrowly missed making, along with a third Quarterfinal finish during a wildcard opportunity at the VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona. The 20-year-old also made her mark at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where she advanced to the Quarterfinals. Silva closed out the 2024 season by winning the WSL World Junior Championships in the Philippines, the first Brazilian woman to do so. Initially qualifying for the CT in 2021, Silva has previously competed in the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

Three-time World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) will be forced to miss the start of the 2025 season after undergoing a surgical procedure for a pectoral injury sustained while surfing at his home of Maresias, Brazil. A fired-up Medina had spent the off-season training heavily to come into 2025 stronger than ever. The 31-year-old is maintaining that drive, choosing to withdraw only from the first three events of the season before reevaluating, hoping to return to competition as soon as possible.

Knowing that he will be unable to compete in multiple events, the WSL Commissioner’s Office has assigned Medina a 2026 Season Wildcard, which will allow him to compete in the 2026 CT season.

“I am very sad to have to pull out of the start of the 2025 season,” Medina said. “I have spent the past few months training and surfing incredible waves all over the world to be ready to fight for another World Title. I am focused on recovering as quickly as I can and will return to competition as soon as I am able, however, I am grateful to receive the wildcard for 2026 to allow the necessary time to heal.”

2023 Rookie of the Year Ian Gentil (HAW) has been announced as the WSL Replacement surfer for the 2025 season. The next in line on the 2024 CT rankings, Gentil, will replace Medina in the first three events of the season: the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI, the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro, and the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Following these first three events, Medina will reassess his plans for the following events.

2022 event winners Moana Jones Wong (HAW) and Kelly Slater (USA) will enter the 2024 Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI draw as event wildcards. The pair present a huge threat to the draw as strong contenders to back up their history with further victories.

Wong’s experience and intimate knowledge of the break is a proven foil to the world’s best, and she is determined to back up her 2022 victory. Meanwhile, 11-time World Champion Slater earned his eighth CT win at Pipeline, his 56th overall, days shy of his 50th birthday in 2022. Slater’s incredible record at Pipeline includes placing in the Semifinals or better an unprecedented 25 times, making the Final in 13 of the 32 CT events in which he has competed there.

Johanne Defay (FRA) and Crosby Colapinto (USA) have both withdrawn from the Lexus Pipe Pro, allowing Spain’s Nadia Erostarbe (ESP) and Hawaii’s Eli Hanneman to replace them in the opening event of the season.

As the next in line on the Challenger Series rankings, Erostarbe has been decided as the 2025 WSL Replacement surfer. The 24-year-old will make her CT debut at Pipe. Maui’s Hanneman is the highest-ranked Hawaiian not already in the draw and will compete at the CT level at Pipeline for the second year in a row.

Born and raised in Zarautz, Basque Country, Erostarbe has been at the forefront of European surfing for many years. The only non-CT surfer to make the Quarterfinals of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Erostarbe had an incredibly consistent run on the Challenger Series from 2023 and into 2024, making the Finals Day of nearly every event. An injury prior to the last two events of the Challenger Series season limited Erostarbe’s performance, leaving her just one place shy of CT qualification in No. 6.

Confirmed 2025 CT Roster to Include Nine Rookies

The 2025 CT will feature all athletes competing in combined men’s and women’s events across the season’s calendar with equal prize money. Beginning with the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI, the 2025 season includes a total of 12 events. An adjusted Mid-season Cut will take place after Stop No. 7, the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, before the field is further reduced for the one-day WSL Finals, where the WSL Final 5 men and women will battle for the World Titles at Cloudbreak, Fiji.

The confirmed roster now features nine rookies, including two who are their nation’s first CT representatives. Additionally, two-time World Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA), the first Brazilian to win back-to-back World Titles, will return to defend his 2022 and 2023 World Titles.

Four of the Challenger Series qualifiers are previous CT event winners, including two of the three women’s rookies, Vahine Fierro (FRA) and Erin Brooks (CAN). Brooks is the first surfer to represent Canada on the CT, while Fierro, the 2017 WSL World Junior Champion, became an Olympian after competing in her home of Tahiti for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They are joined by 17-year-old Bella Kenworthy (USA), whose CT debut will take place at Pipeline.

Over half of the 10 men’s qualifiers are rookies. Mexico’s Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX) joins a list that includes his good friend and fellow Mexican resident, Marco Mignot (FRA), along with two Australians, George Pittar (AUS) and Joel Vaughan (AUS), one Brazilian, Edgard Groggia (BRA), and one Hawaiian, Maui’s Jackson Bunch (HAW). Mignot and Pittar have both tasted the CT twice as wildcards, Bunch a single time. Pittar made a statement by progressing to the Semifinals in his second appearance, putting the top seeds on notice. It will be trial by fire when Cleland, Vaughan, and Groggia don their jerseys in Hawaiʻi.

CT veterans Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Miguel Pupo (BRA) return for 2025, along with three fellow surfers from the 2024 CT class, Isabella Nichols (AUS), Deivid Silva (BRA), and Miguel’s brother, Samuel Pupo (BRA), the first Brazilian to win the Challenger Series. Meanwhile, former CT surfers Ian Gouveia (BRA) and Alejo Muniz (BRA) have made an emotional return to the elite ranks, six and eight years after falling off Tour, respectively.

The first seven events of the 2025 Championship Tour will be contested by the WSL top 36 men and top 18 women.

The top 36 men consist of:

• The Top 22 finishers from the 2024 Championship Tour rankings
• The Top 10 finishers on the 2024 Challenger Series rankings
• Two WSL season wildcards
• Two event wildcards

The top 18 women consist of:

• The Top 10 finishers on the 2024 Championship Tour rankings
• The Top five finishers on the 2024 Challenger Series rankings
• Two WSL season wildcards
• One event wildcard

Women’s 2025 Championship Tour Qualifiers

Top 10 Qualifiers from 2024 Championship Tour Rankings

• Caitlin Simmers (USA)
• Caroline Marks (USA)
• Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
• Brisa Hennessy (CRC)
• Molly Picklum (AUS)
• Johanne Defay (FRA)
• Gabriela Bryan (HAW)
• Sawyer Lindblad (USA)
• Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)
• Tyler Wright (AUS)

Top 5 Qualifiers from 2024 Challenger Series Rankings

• Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
• Bella Kenworthy (USA)
• Isabella Nichols (AUS)
• Erin Brooks (CAN)
• Vahine Fierro (FRA)

WSL Season Wildcards

• Lakey Peterson (USA)
• Luana Silva (BRA)

WSL Replacement

• Nadia Erostarbe (ESP)

Men’s 2025 Championship Tour Qualifiers

Top 22 Qualifiers from the 2024 Championship Tour Rankings

• Italo Ferreira (BRA)
• Griffin Colapinto (USA)
• Jack Robinson (AUS)
• Ethan Ewing (AUS)
• Yago Dora (BRA)
• Gabriel Medina (BRA)
• Jordy Smith (RSA)
• Rio Waida (INA)
• Crosby Colapinto (USA)
• Jake Marshall (USA)
• Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)
• Ryan Callinan (AUS)
• Barron Mamiya (HAW)
• Cole Houshmand (USA)
• Connor O’Leary (JPN)
• Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
• Imaikalani deVault (HAW)
• Seth Moniz (HAW)
• Matthew McGillivray (RSA)
• Liam O’Brien (AUS)
• Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
• Samuel Pupo (BRA)

Top 10 Qualifiers from the 2024 Challenger Series Rankings

• Ian Gouveia (BRA)
• Marco Mignot (FRA)
• Alejo Muniz (BRA)
• Deivid Silva (BRA)
• Miguel Pupo (BRA)
• Joel Vaughan (AUS)
• George Pittar (AUS)
• Edgard Groggia (BRA)
• Jackson Bunch (HAW)
• Alan Cleland Jr. (MEX)

WSL Season Wildcards

• João Chianca (BRA)
• Filipe Toledo (BRA)

WSL Replacement

• Ian Gentil (HAW)

The 2025 WSL Championship Tour will kick off with the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI on the North Shore of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, during a competition window of January 27 to February 8, 2025.

All of the action will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners. 

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.