Top 5 Men and Women prepare for surfing’s biggest single day of competition at WSL Finals

The WSL Finals are right around the corner, and the women’s and men’s Final 5 surfers are locked in and ready to battle for the 2024 World Titles at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California. The one-day, winner-take-all competition will hold a waiting period from September 6 through September 14, 2024, and will run on the single best day of waves.
 
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.

Meet the surfers competing for the 2024 World Titles

Caity Simmers (USA)

The No. 1 seed, Oceanside, California’s Caity Simmers (USA), enters her second-consecutive 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 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.”

John John Florence (HAW)

It’s hard to believe that the 2024 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.”

Caroline Marks (USA)

The reigning World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, Caroline Marks (USA), returns to the 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.”

Griffin Colapinto (USA)

Fresh off of his second CT win of 2024 at the Fiji Pro, hometown hero Griffin Colapinto (USA) will appear as the No. 2 seed in the 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 (CRC)

Brisa Hennessy’s (CRC) fifth season on Tour has proved her best yet, landing her in her second 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 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. 

Jack Robinson (AUS)

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 Sunset Beach Pro, 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 WSL Finals, looking to claim Australia’s first World Title since Mick Fanning in 2013.

Molly Picklum (AUS)

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 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 Sunset Beach Pro. Though mixed results followed, her first Olympic experience at Paris 2024 gave way to a Semifinal finish in the Fiji Pro, which clinched her position at No. 4 in the WSL Finals, equaling her seed in her first Finals experience in 2023.

Ethan Ewing (AUS)

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 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 Rip Curl Pro and a Semifinal in the recently finished 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)

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 Fiji Pro. Needing to make the Final in Fiji to return to the 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.”

Italo Ferreira (BRA)

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 Tahiti Pro and the Rio Pro, which was a massive first home-country victory. Ferreira’s No. 5 position in the 2024 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.

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