CAITLIN SIMMERS Takes down CAROLINE MARKS to win her 1st World Championship! Not since Kim Mearig over 4 decades ago has a Women’s Champ brought it home to California! A new legend has arrived.

2024 CT Results

WOMEN

1. Caity Simmers
2. Caroline Marks
3. Tatiana Weston-Webb
4. Brisa Hennessy
5. Molly Picklum

MEN

1. John Florence
2. Italo Ferreira
3. Griffin Colapinto
4. Jack Robinson
5. Ethan Ewing

Watch again….the World Title Showdown at the 2024 Lexus WSL Finals

Lexus WSL Finals Started 8:00 a.m. PDT (5am HI Time)

The event will begin with Women’s Match 1, followed by men’s Match 1, women’s and men’s Match 2, and women’s and men’s Match 3. The winners of Match 3 will then face the No. 1 seeds, Caity Simmers (USA) and John John Florence (HAW), in a best-two-of-three Title Match.

On the men’s side, the contrasting styles of Ethan Ewing (AUS) and Italo Ferreira (BRA) couldn’t be more different. A key note in Ewing’s precise and powerful railwork is his patience, both in the face of the wave and in waiting for the ideal wave to come. Meanwhile, Ferreira, the 2019 World Champion and 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist, is more likely to prowl the lineup, ride as many waves as possible, and spend as little time on the face of the wave as he can.

Though all five women have previously competed in the Lexus WSL Finals, only Marks has tasted victory, and you can bet she wants to back that up. With Hennessy and Weston-Webb looking for historic firsts for their nations, Picklum looking to continue a legacy, and Simmers determined to make her mark, one very exciting day awaits.

Ewing, Robinson, and Colapinto are eager to win their first World Titles and break long droughts for their nations in the process, while Ferreira is hoping to add to his count and continue Brazil’s incredible streak. Current World No. 1 John John Florence (HAW), the only person to break that streak since it began in 2014, is looking to notch his third Title and equal the likes of Andy Irons (HAW) and Gabriel Medina (BRA).

By the day’s end, Lower Trestles will witness the winners make history as the 2024 World Champions.  Their names will be etched into the iconic Duke Kahanamoku World Champions Trophy.

Watch the Lexus WSL Finals LIVE at WorldSurfLeague.com.

• YELLOW ALERT: Strong Potential for 2024 Lexus WSL Finals to Run Tomorrow
• First Call at 7:30 a.m. PDT, Friday, September 6, for a Possible 8:00 a.m. Start (5am HI Time)
• Phenom Caity Simmers Leads Women’s Formidable Final 5 to Lower Trestles
• Two-time World Champion John John Florence Eyes Third Title
• Heavy-Hitting Contenders Look to Etch Their Name in History
• More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com

The Lexus WSL Finals is the one-day, World-Title-deciding competition that will see 10 athletes compete for the 2024 World Titles. An elite cast of contenders will compete at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, Calif. to declare themselves the best in the world. Current World No. 1s Caitlin Simmers (USA) and John John Florence (HAW) pushed the world’s best all season long to claim the top honors and now wait to see who will challenge them in their respective Title Matches.

All eyes have been locked on the forecast to see which day will host the best surfing conditions to kick off competitive surfing’s ultimate, one-day battle for World Titles. With favorable winds and a pulse of S swell set to arrive to provide three-to-four-foot conditions at the famed Lower Trestles, the WSL Champions may be crowned by day’s end tomorrow, on Friday, September 6.

“It looks like tomorrow is going to be a really good for us and Surfline has even just upgraded their prediction for the size,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Commissioner. “We’re down here today for the training, and the energy is amazing already. The surfers are looking more ready than ever, and everyone’s super excited about what really looks like an 8:00 a.m. start tomorrow morning.”

Surfing witnessed an incredible year of progression throughout the CT season. Oceanside, California’s Caity Simmers (USA) led the charge and emerged as the frontrunner following the conclusion of the regular CT season in Fiji. Simmers’ surge through 2024 helped push the standard alongside the world’s best surfers, including Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) and Molly Picklum (AUS). Now, all that remains for Simmers is to fend off Weston-Webb, Picklum, reigning WSL Champion Caroline Marks (USA), and 2023 World Title contender Brisa Hennessy (CRC) as each looks to etch their name into surfing’s most sought-after trophy – the Duke Kahanamoku World Champions Trophy.

“It’s a fast process in my mind, like a tornado,” said Simmers. “I’ve just been trying to slow down and do the things I normally would do, just with a little more effort into surfing. And to do just every little thing I can to be in the best form. I felt a lot more comfortable this year just being more familiar with the places after going to a lot of them for the first time last year.”

One of surfing’s most well-known names of the modern era, John John Florence (HAW), became the World Champion in 2016 and 2017, nearly matching the legendary Andy Irons (HAW) as the first man to earn three back-to-back Titles since 2004. Though riddled with injury, Florence entered the 2024 season with a new competitive edge that helped drive progression and power to new heights alongside a stacked cast of the world’s best.

“I’m really excited to be a part of it this year because my last World Title was won a completely different way,” said Florence. “So it’s fun to battle for a World Title on the day against No. 2, and it’s just really exciting. I have a lot of good memories here, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The No. 1 seeds will wait to see who rises from the list of world-class contenders and then go head-to-head in the Title Match, which is the best two out of three heats.

Residing in San Clemente, reigning WSL Champion Caroline Marks (USA) will return to the Lower Trestles, but this time ranked No. 2 after her surge to a maiden World Title began ranked No. 3 in 2023. Marks will wait to face the winner of Match 2 after Match 1 features Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) and Molly Picklum (AUS) to determine who will go on to battle Brisa Hennessy (CRC).

“It’s been an amazing year, and last year was amazing as well. It’s just a dream to have all my friends and family here,” said Marks. “I’ve looked forward to living out here for a while, and San Clemente has kind of adopted me, which has been really cool. It’s a different feeling this year. You have a target on your back once you’ve already won and you just want to do it again and again and again. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to be back in this position.”

“It felt like I was on a good rhythm in Fiji, and things were just going my way,” said Colapinto. “I was just flowing and hanging out with my friends, and I feel like I really thrive in that environment. We’re home now and I’m doing it again, so it’s really nice.”

The Top 5 contenders joined WSL Surf Night held at San Clemente’s Community Center and the crowd came in the masses. Young kids and adults alike poured into the surf town to get their opportunity to meet the 2024 World Title contenders, enjoy food and giveaways, and see some of the activations surrounding the Lexus WSL Finals. An electric atmosphere MC’ed by Chris Cote was full of smiles, cheers, and words from all 10 of the contenders fresh out of a session at Lower Trestles.

From Oahu’s North Shore to Portugal, to Brazil, and back to California, WSL Rising Tides continues to spread the stoke and inspire the next generation of young surfers globally. California’s rising talents took over the San Clemente Pier and were treated to a full session alongside 2024 Rookie of the Year and San Clemente’s own Sawyer Lindblad (USA) alongside CT veteran Lakey Peterson (USA). The two stars provided all the smiles, mentorship and a session to help keep pushing the next generation toward chasing World Title aspirations of their own.

“It’s amazing to be here today, and I see a lot of these girls almost every day when I’m home surfing in San Clemente,” said Lindblad. “It’s super cool to give back to the community and have a fun surf with all the girls. There’s a group of girls who go to the middle school I went to, so they’re all on the surf team that I was on, so it’s really cool. I’m definitely seeing more girls in the lineup than ever before, and it’s amazing.”

Top 5 Men and Women Prepare For Surfing’s Biggest Single Day of Competition at Lexus WSL Finals

Meet the Surfers Competing for the 2024 World Title

Competition Window Opens on Friday, September 6, 2024

Filled with the season’s best surfers, the Lexus WSL Finals competitors have earned their places in a historic year that has seen new records set, Olympic medalists crowned, and boundaries pushed.

Heading into the fourth year of the Finals format, one thing is clear: Every surfer is determined to be the one to leave Lower Trestles as the 2024 World Champion, and they will bring the belief that they can do it into every match.

The No. 1 seed, Oceanside, California’s Caity Simmers (USA), enters her second-consecutive Lexus WSL Finals in only her second season on Tour. As one of the frontrunners in waves of consequence, Simmers led the charge at the first event of the season, the Lexus Pipe Pro, taking the win on a defining day for surfing. Victories at Bells Beach and Brazil followed, leaving the stylish and progressive surfer, who featured as a part of Team USA in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in the yellow Leader’s jersey for much of the season. Her fiery attack at Lower Trestles will be hard to beat as she seeks to claim California’s first women’s World Title since Kim Mearig in 1983.

“It’s pretty not real, but it’s also super real,” Simmers said. “It’s pretty cool. Lowers is a super fun wave, and it’s kind of a ridiculous life situation to be in, so I’ll just try to not think about it at all.”

It’s hard to believe that the 2024 Lexus WSL Finals will be the first Finals appearance for two-time World Champion and two-time Olympian John John Florence (HAW). After many seasons of injury, the 31-year-old will fight for the World Title for the first time since his last in 2017. In an incredibly consistent 2024 season, Florence earned his first Championship Tour (CT) event win since 2019 at the Surf City El Salvador Pro and placed runner-up in three additional events. A brand new father, the Hawaiian, representing Oahu’s famous North Shore, is eager to match compatriot Andy Irons’ (HAW) three World Titles. And, maybe even more so, to even the score in modern-day surfing’s biggest rivalry and sit equal with Gabriel Medina’s (BRA) three.

“This will be my first time making it to the Finals, so I’m super stoked on that,” Florence said. “The plan from the beginning of the year was to try to be at Lowers in the No. 1 seed. I’m just having fun competing.”

The reigning World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, Caroline Marks (USA), returns to the Lexus WSL Finals as the No. 2 seed looking to go back-to-back in her adopted home of San Clemente. While the Floridian’s forehand barrel technique took her to Olympic Gold, it was her aggressive backhand attack that earned her first World Title. The first goofy-foot to win a women’s World Title since 2005, and the only women’s World Champion in the draw, Marks retains the title of both youngest to ever surf in a CT and youngest to qualify for the Tour, as well as the first woman to win equal prize money in 2019. A victory at the Surf City El Salvador Pro elevated Marks into her current rankings position, one place higher than where she claimed her inaugural World Title in 2023.

“I’m really stoked, that was a huge goal of mine to defend my Title,” Marks said. “I feel like I’m coming off a really big high after winning the Gold at the Olympics, but I still feel like there’s work to be done this year. Two really massive goals this year. I got one done and one more to go.”

Fresh off of his second CT win of 2024 at the Corona Fiji Pro, hometown hero Griffin Colapinto (USA) will appear as the No. 2 seed in the Lexus WSL Finals for the second year in a row with the opportunity to win California its first men’s World Title since 1990. Born and raised in San Clemente, within a stone’s throw of Lower Trestles, he honed his skills on its precious peak. The 26-year-old Olympian has an incredible amount of support from the local community and his family, especially his brother Crosby Colapinto, who recently claimed the 2024 Rookie of the Year title in their first shared season together.

“It means everything,” Colapinto said. “I put so much into this sport, and my whole life has been going towards what I’m doing now, so I’m just soaking it in.”

Brisa Hennessy’s (CRC) fifth season on Tour has proved her best yet, landing her in her second Lexus WSL Finals in the No. 3 position. Having fallen off Tour at the Mid-Season Cut in 2023 amidst an array of serious health issues, including the discovery of a benign brain tumor and diagnosis of hypothyroidism, Hennessy’s incredible return to form has seen her as the most consistent surfer of 2024. The two-time Olympian placed in four Semifinals before reaching the high point of her season, runner-up in the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro. Hennessy has always placed high value on her family, a fact that much of the world witnessed when a clip of the 24-year-old teaching her 80-year-old grandmother to surf went viral at the start of the year. They, along with all of Hennessy’s fans in Costa Rica, will cheer her on as she competes for her first World Title, potentially as early as Friday, September 6, with the start of the event window.

Two major life changes have happened since Jack Robinson (AUS) competed in his second WSL Finals in 2023: he became a father, and he became an Olympian, both firsts for the 26-year-old. While winning an Olympic Silver Medal may have highlighted his 2024 competitive season, a second CT win at home in the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, along with victory in the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, certainly aided in making it an incredible year for Robinson. He’ll be hoping that the third time’s a charm when he dons the jersey as the No. 3 seed in the 2024 Lexus WSL Finals, looking to claim Australia’s first World Title since Mick Fanning in 2013.

A North Shore season for the history books started Molly Picklum’s (AUS) 2024 season with a bang. Earning the first-ever women’s 10-point ride at Pipeline in the Lexus Pipe Pro, where she placed runner-up, the 21-year-old then nailed the turn seen around the world on the way to winning her second-consecutive Hurley Pro Sunset Beach. Though mixed results followed, her first Olympic experience at Paris 2024 gave way to a Semifinal finish in the Corona Fiji Pro, which clinched her position at No. 4 in the Lexus WSL Finals, equaling her seed in her first Finals experience in 2023.

The exceptional railwork of Ethan Ewing (AUS) has set the standard in modern-day surfing, and it has now taken him to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and his third consecutive Lexus WSL Finals. In 2023, the 25-year-old marched through to the Title Match, where he placed runner-up to the World Title, Australia’s best finish since 2018. His fifth season on Tour was highlighted by a Final at the MEO Rip Curl Pro and a Semifinal in the recently finished Corona Fiji Pro, where his often-overlooked backhand lit up the lefts of Cloudbreak, allowing him to clinch the No. 4 seed as he once again pursues his first World Title.

“This year’s been a lot of ups and downs, and towards the end of this year, I was just holding on,” Ewing said. “I made a lot of mistakes in a few of the comps, so it feels good to secure that and get another opportunity at a World Title.”

Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) chose the right moment to push through to her first Final of 2024, making the Gold Medal Match in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she earned the Silver Medal. Her form continued across to the CT, where it all came down to the wire in the final event of the season, the Corona Fiji Pro. Needing to make the Final in Fiji to return to the Lexus WSL Finals, the 28-year-old Brazilian did exactly that, bettering her three CT Semifinal finishes in 2024 and placing runner-up to clinch the No. 5 spot. Having previously made the Title Match in the very first WSL Finals in 2021, Weston-Webb will be looking to go one better in 2024 and earn Brazil their first women’s World Title.

“What an honor to be part of such a tenacious group of women,” Weston-Webb said. “I think that this year has been so fun for women’s surfing and, obviously, a special year for me, getting a Silver Medal and now being in the Final 5.”

2019 World Champion and Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalist Italo Ferreira (BRA) had two very different halves of the 2024 season. A slow start in the first half saw him in danger of falling off Tour at the Mid-Season Cut, while the second half featured a solid return to form. The 30-year-old won two of the four post-Cut CT events, the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro and the Vivo Rio Pro, which was a massive first home-country victory. Ferreira’s No. 5 position in the 2024 Lexus Finals may be lower than his two previous appearances in 2021 and 2022, but he’s proven he can rise to the occasion through multiple heats. He is Brazil’s single hope to maintain their men’s World Title run, which has continued since 2018. If anyone has the energy to rise from fifth to first, it’s Ferreira, and you can be sure he will go all out in his attempt.

The WSL is bringing Surf Night to San Clemente ahead of the Lexus WSL Finals. Join us on September 3 at the San Clemente Community Center (100 N Calle Seville) to meet the WSL Final 5 and celebrate the unique surf culture of the San Clemente community. Enjoy food trucks, music, and giveaways throughout the night, and of course, snag a poster from your favorite surfers. The event will start from 5:00 p.m. PDT and athlete signings will occur from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

For more information about the Lexus WSL Finals, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.