Teenager makes surfing history as youngest female world champion

Teenage sensation Caitlin Simmers became the youngest ever world surfing champion after winning the World Surf League (WSL) finals in Southern California on Friday, while Hawaiian John John Florence claimed his third world title.

Simmers, from Oceanside near the finals venue of Lower Trestles, is just 18 and on only her second year on the professional world tour.

Her win over Florida’s 2023 world champion and Paris Olympics gold medallist Caroline Marks was the first world title for California in more than 30 years.

“It all just came down to an hour and half of surfing and it just seemed like all my emotions in that whole year was in that hour,” Simmers said after her win.

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“I cried in my locker room for 30 minutes before my heat. I didn’t want Caroline to have it all because that girl wins everything! She’s the hardest person to compete against and she literally never falls.”

Simmers, the top seed for the one-day, winner-takes-all finals for the top five surfers, got off to a strong start in their best of three finals, scoring two excellent 8-point plus rides.

But Marks, a veteran but still just 22, stormed back, claiming the win with a near perfect 9.6 out of 10 for a relentless series of critical backhand turns with just seconds left on the clock.

Simmers grabbed the second heat by the throat, scoring two 9-point-plus rides on her first two waves for a 18.37 total out of a possible 20, the highest in the history of the finals event.

Simmers also got the better start in the deciding heat with two solid scores including an excellent 8.83. Marks got a 7.17 of her own before the ocean went flat, giving the win to Simmers.

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Florence put on a ruthless display of powerful and progressive surfing, taking out Brazil’s Italo Ferreira in championship match-up.

Florence, who won world titles in 2016 and 2017, was the top seed after a strong performance on the nine-stop professional world tour.

A child prodigy who grew up in Hawaii’s powerful surf, Florence relished glassy, head-high waves and overcame the pressure of the finals day format that was introduced in 2021.

“The last seven years have been so tough, there’s so many injuries, so just fighting back to be in this position and then having this new format is so stressful,” Florence said after being carried up the beach following his win.

In the first of their best-of-three final match-up, Florence trailed the high-energy Ferreira, who racked up a 15.33 total out of 20 after some high-risk aerials.

But Florence kept in touch with his first wave and did just enough to claim the win on his second ride for his own big air and a series of turns, finishing with a two-wave total of 15.5 out of a possible 20.

In their second heat, the Hawaiian started with one of the turns of the year, a huge forehand layback hack that judges rewarded with 9.7 points out of 10 - the highest single wave score in finals history.

He backed that up with another excellent 8.43, leaving Ferreira, the 2019 world champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, chasing a near perfect score as the clock ran out.