Pictured: Watch the Rip Curl WSL Finals LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com starting at 8:00am PDT. Credit: © WSL

  • Undisputed 2021 World Champions Will Be Crowned Today
  • WSL Final 5 Greeted With 6-10’ Surf at Lower Trestles
  • More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com

The first-ever Rip Curl WSL Finals, the final event of the 2021 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), is ON starting at 8:00 am PDT today. With a solid SSW swell filling in, the WSL Final 5 were greeted with 6-10’ foot surf this morning at Lower Trestles, where the undisputed men’s and women’s World Champions will be decided.

“We are officially calling the Rip Curl WSL Finals on for an 8:00 a.m. start here at Lower Trestles,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL SVP of Tours and Head of Competition. “Surf is firing and we think it is going to hold well all day. We have clean conditions from yesterday’s swell and it is really groomed. This is going to be a historic day for surfing as we crown the men’s and women’s World Champions in this new format and on the same day. I definitely think it’s a powerful image to all the young girls to see men and women out there standing next to each other at the very pinnacle of the sport. We’re all excited to witness this. Best of luck to our World Title contenders today.”

The women will be first to take to the water, alternating with the men for the remainder of the day. Match 1 will see Johanne Defay (FRA) take on 7x WSL Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), followed by rookie Morgan Cibilic (AUS) and Conner Coffin (USA). Both matches will have a traditional heat format in a head-to-head competition. The winners will advance to Match 2 where they will face world No. 3 on the WSL Leaderboard: Sally Fitzgibbons(AUS) and Filipe Toledo (BRA). 

The winner of Match 2 will then face-off against the number two ranked surfers, the Brazilian duo Tatiana Weston-Webb and Italo Ferreira, in Match 3. The winners of Match 3 will move on to the best-of-three Title Match, where they will face the World Number 1 Carissa Moore (HAW) and Gabriel Medina (BRA) in a head-to-head competition with a traditional heat format. The first surfer to win two out of three heats becomes the undisputed 2021 World Champion.

More information available at WorldSurfLeague.com.

The Rip Curl WSL Finals Match-Ups:

  • Women’s Match 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs Johanne Defay (FRA)
  • Men’s Match 1: Conner Coffin (USA) vs Morgan Cibilic (AUS)
  • Women’s Match 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs Match 1 Winner 
  • Men’s Match 2: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs Match 1 Winner
  • Women’s Match 3: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs Match 1 Winner
  • Men’s Match 3: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs Match 2 Winner
  • Women’s Title Match, Heat 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs Match 3 Winner
  • Men’s Title Match, Heat 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs Match 3 Winner
  • Women’s Title Match, Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs Match 3 Winner
  • Men’s Title Match, Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs Match 3 Winner
  • Women’s Title Match, Heat 3 (if necessary): Carissa Moore (HAW) vs Match 3 Winner
  • Men’s Title Match, Heat 3 (if necessary): Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs Match 3 Winner

The Rip Curl WSL Finals is proudly supported by Rip Curl, Jeep, Red Bull, Super 73, Shiseido, Oakley, DraftKings, Michelob ULTRA, IKEA, Expedia, Sambazon, Flying Embers, and Waterloo.

Watch LIVE 
Watch the Rip Curl WSL Finals LIVE today starting at 8:00am PDT on WorldSurfLeague.com and YouTube, as well as the free WSL app. Check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners. 

COVID-19 Updates
The health and safety of athletes, staff, and the local community are of the utmost importance and the WSL has been working closely with local authorities to put a robust set of procedures in place. This includes testing and advance screening protocols, physical distancing and limited personnel on-site.

About the WSL 
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world’s best surfing. 
 
A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world’s largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
 
The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.  
 
Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com. 
 
WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.
 
The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.  
 
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.