CLOUDBREAK, FIJI – SEPTEMBER 2: Molly Picklum of Australia and Yago Dora of Brazil after winning the 2025 World Title at the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji on September 2, 2025 at Cloudbreak, Tavarua, Fiji. (Photo by Ed Sloane/World Surf League)
Molly Picklum (AUS) and Yago Dora (BRA) claimed victory at the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero, the Final stop on the World Surf League (WSL) 2025 Championship Tour (CT), to be crowned the 2025 World Champions. Both Picklum and Dora entered the title deciding event as the No. 1 seeds and were able to put on stunning performances in four-to-six foot surf at Cloudbreak to claim their maiden World Titles.
Molly Picklum Breaks Through in Fiji to Claim Maiden World Title
Australian surfer Molly Picklum (AUS) has capped off a dominant season on the CT, winning the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji to claim her maiden World Championship. 2025 saw 22-year-old Picklum hold the Yellow Leader Jersey for the majority of the season after claiming two event wins from five Finals appearances. Today, as the No. 1 seed, Picklum overcame 2023 World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Caroline Marks (USA) with a dominant backside performance at Cloudbreak over three epic 35-minute matchups.
“I’m so speechless right now,” Picklum said. “I really feel like this is the cherry on top of what I’ve done to my career and my personal life, really turning things around. It’s such a trip and something you can never take away from me to be a World Champion. To get this after such an amazing season is so special and something I’ll remember for life. To be the undisputed, undeniable Champ is something I’ve dreamt of, and to win that way feels my heart. I can not believe it, I’m just so grateful to get the opportunity to do what I love.”
Marks came into the Title Match having won three heats in a row to overcome Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW), reigning World Champion Caity Simmers (USA), and Gabriela Bryan (HAW) along the way before taking the win over Picklum and sending it to a best-of-three showdown.
After a slow start and losing the first match, Picklum came back with a vengeance, posting a 15.83 (out of a possible 20) two-wave total, which included an 8.83 (out of a possible 10) for a long tube ride, to take it to a third and title-deciding match. Picklum continued the charge, posting another 8.83, the highest single-wave score of the entire event. Picklum posted the highest two-wave total of the event, 16.93, to take an unassailable lead over Marks and become the first Australian World Champion since Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) in 2022.
“There was so much doubt, but I feel like that’s what raises a champion. You have to step up and rise above that. I just kept true to trusting in the unknown, and I’m so, so grateful that it panned out. After the first heat, I just swallowed it and took what I could, honored my beliefs, and went after it.”
After qualifying for the CT in 2022 and missing the Mid-season Cut, Picklum found her way back to the elite level the following year to earn a spot at the WSL Finals and finish in 5th place. She then repeated this in 2024 after groundbreaking performances at Pipeline and Sunset Beach to announce herself as a future World Champion waiting in the wings.
“It’s such a trip to be a Central Coast kid, growing up looking up to Steph [Gilmore] and Layne [Beachley] and Sally [Fitzgibbons], and Tyler [Wright] and all of those girls, and to now be on a list with them, I just feel so honored and grateful. There have been so many amazing females in surfing who have come before us and paved the way for me and others to get out there and do what we love, so it’s a trip to be amongst that now. It really is true that it takes a village to raise a child, and to have the whole Central Coast behind me as well as my team around me, all year, and my family and friends, they know me and how hard I work, so to do it in front of them is so, so special.”
Marks ends the season in second place for the second year in a row, but will carry confidence in her performance coming from outside the Final 5 with just one event left to once again put herself right in the World Title conversation for the third straight year.
Yago Dora Becomes Fifth Brazilian World Champion in a Decade
Brazil’s Yago Dora (BRA) has claimed victory at Cloudbreak to become the 2025 Lexus WSL Finals Fiji winner and World Champion. Dora was one of the most consistent surfers all season, claiming two CT victories from three Finals appearances Yellow Leaders Jersey and booked himself a spot in the WSL Final Five for the first time in his career. Dora ended the year in style, posting the second-highest heat total of the day to become the fifth Brazilian World Champion since 2014, leaving Brazil to hold 7 of the last 11 men’s titles.
“It’s so crazy that the whole year is decided like that in one heat. I’m really glad it’s come my way and I’m over the moon right now, I’m so happy, just so happy,” Dora said. “I’m glad I took on this year like I did. It’s a big responsibility to do it on your own, but I’m really glad I did, and I made the right decision. I’ve really felt the will I did this year, and I feel like there is more to come. I’m really happy. I grew up watching the Brazilians before me dominating and winning World Titles, and it’s such an honour to join that list of names.”
After a prolific free-surfing career as a teenager, Dora qualified for the elite level Championship Tour in 2018 after a short stint chasing qualification. Once on the CT, it took the stylish goofy footer four years to break into the Top 10, eventually finishing in seventh and sixth in 2023 and 2024, respectively. 2025 saw the 29-year-old string together his career-best season and end it in the perfect way, as the World Champion.
“I started my career on the free-surfing side, but I felt like competition is truly what drove me, and it’s what I wanted to chase. Then I felt so much more confident this year,” Dora continued. “I feel like my heat strategy and everything were at a place where I didn’t always need to surf so well to get a result. Sometimes it’s harder to make a heat with a smaller score than a massive one, and I feel like I was able to get that this year. I’m just so happy that I could put everything together this year, having amazing heats and even making struggling ones. To get to where I did and finish it with that performance is so special.”
In the first Title Match, Dora came up against a rampaging Griffin Colapinto (USA), who had posted some of the highest heat totals of the day to take down Italo Ferreira (BRA) in the second match and Jordy Smith (RSA) in the third to find his way into the Title Match for the first time in his career. Although Colapinto was coming in hot, Dora looked steely, waiting with priority at the start of the match to eventually pull the trigger and post a 7.33 for an impressive carve, to vertical snap, combination. He then backed it up with an 8.33 for three massive carves with plenty of variation to leave Colapinto needing a huge score. Griffin was unable to find a wave that offered him the scoring potential he needed, leaving Dora to claim the World Title.
“Griffin [Colapinto] was looking so dangerous out there all day, and it was nerve-racking coming up against him, so I’m glad I could get it done in one heat and use the seeding to my advantage,” Dora continued. “Griffin was the guy to beat today. From the first heat, he was on point all day. We know his potential out here, obviously winning here last year, and he was ripping today. Obviously, I needed to believe in my surfing, and if I had the right waves, I could come out with the win. I’m just so happy I could get it done today.”
Colapinto fell just short of becoming only the second Californian man in history to win a World Title, but ended the season with his best-ever showing, finishing the year in second place, a career-best result for the 27-year-old.
For more information and highlights from the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
2025 Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Results:
TITLE MATCH 3: Molly Picklum (AUS) 16.93 DEF. Caroline Marks (USA) 6.24
TITLE MATCH 2: Molly Picklum (AUS) 15.83 DEF. Caroline Marks (USA) 8.03
TITLE MATCH 1: Caroline Marks (USA) 12.50 DEF. Molly Picklum (AUS) 10.50
MATCH 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 13.67 DEF. Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 9.47
MATCH 2: Caroline Marks (USA) 14.60 DEF. Caitlin Simmers (USA) 11.33
MATCH 1: Caroline Marks (USA) 9.66 DEF. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 5.00
2025 Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero Men’s Results:
TITLE MATCH 1: Yago Dora (BRA) 15.66 DEF. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 12.33
MATCH 3: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.43 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 13.50
MATCH 2: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 16.33 DEF. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.67
MATCH 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.33 DEF. Jack Robinson (AUS) 5.83
The Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero is proudly supported by Lexus, Tourism Fiji, Corona Cero, Red Bull, YETI, Bonsoy, mophie, Fiji Airways, Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, Tavarua Island Resort, I-SEA, Surfline, and True Surf.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfing. The WSL oversees surfing’s global competitive landscape and sets the standard for elite performance in the most dynamic playing field in all of sports. With a firm commitment to its values, the WSL prioritizes the protection of the ocean, equality, and the sport’s rich heritage, while championing progression and innovation. For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
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