California has a strong chance of celebrating its first homegrown world surfing champion in over 30 years, as Griffin Colapinto and Caitlin Simmers compete in the upcoming World Surf League (WSL) finals near San Clemente.
Simmers enters the winner-takes-all event after an impressive season on the nine-stop professional world tour, securing the top seed ahead of 2023 champion and Paris Olympic gold medallist Caroline Marks. The 18-year-old from Oceanside, located less than 30 km from the competition site at Lower Trestles, has been a standout in only her second year on the tour, earning three victories, including a groundbreaking win at Hawaii’s challenging Pipeline.
In the men's division, San Clemente local Griffin Colapinto is seeded second, behind Hawaiian John John Florence, having also finished as runner-up at the 2023 finals. Now fully recovered from a hip injury that hampered his performance last year, the 26-year-old is coming off a victory in Fiji and appears to have his best opportunity yet to claim the title at his home break.
Despite Brazilian Filipe Toledo, the 2022 and 2023 champion, and Florida-raised Caroline Marks both residing in San Clemente, California has not produced a world champion since Tom Curren's third title win in 1990.
"Caty has a great chance, and being from just 30 minutes away in Oceanside, it would be a significant achievement," said former professional surfer and current commentator Mitchell Salazar. "If both Griffin and Caitlin win, it would be symbolic, especially since this is the last finals here for the foreseeable future, with the competition moving to Fiji next year. It would be a huge moment."
The finals are scheduled to take place between September 6-14, depending on wave conditions, with mostly small waves forecast at the renowned high-performance surfing spot in southern California. The format pits the fifth and fourth seeds against each other, with the winner progressing to face the third seed, continuing until a best-of-three showdown with the top seed, giving Simmers and Florence a significant advantage.
Brazil has dominated the men's world title in recent years, securing seven of the last ten championships. However, with Toledo taking time off for his mental health and three-time champion Gabriel Medina missing the final five, Brazil’s sole representative is fifth-ranked Italo Ferreira.
Australia's hopes rest on last year’s runner-up Ethan Ewing and Paris Olympic silver medallist Jack Robinson in the men's competition, while fourth-seeded Molly Picklum is their only contender in the women’s final.
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