I may have missed it, but I didn't hear a single call from the booth about this being an historic day for womens' surfing, despite it being far more epoch-shattering than the false dawn of Pipeline.

Fourteen World Titles worth of surfing expertise and experience was made to look obsolete in a single day of competition, mostly by teenage girls who wouldn't be able to buy a drink to celebrate the achievement.

Safety surfing, which had become entrenched on the Womens Tour, was swept away by a gender-less attacking wave of rookies. Only Malia Manuel was left to fly the flag for what might be termed a 'feminine' style of surfing - and she did it beautifully.

The Old Order wasn't defeated by tactics or strategy or even home court experience, though the latter played a part in the overwhelming confidence on display. They were simply made to look second-rate by superior surfing skills.

The confidence was stunning, even by teenage Molly Picklum, who admitted to barely having surfed Hawaii before this year but somehow Pickles came into today, according to her testimony, with “more confidence than a normal rookie may have”.

Jam the rail and hold it: Molly Picklum making up for a lack of experience with brute strength (WSL/Bielmann)

Pickles threw a bunch of turn angles and layback variations at Sunset Beach today, most of them successful, making the repertoires of established pros like Tyler Wright look limited, one-dimensional and boring.

She went through Defay and Gabby Bryan in Round 1, Carissa Moore in the Round of 16, then faltered against Brisa Hennessy in the Quarters despite a strong heat.

Judges favoured incumbency; throwing out high numbers at obviously safety-surfed waves by Steph Gilmore and Carissa Moore. Despite the tail winds, these poor performances were simply swept away by far superior surfing.

Steph had three cracks at Sunset today, including being pushed through an elimination heat against Moana Jones-Wong who was shamefully robbed in both her heats and should have gone further in the draw. Steph had, in her own words, “a shocker”. 17-year old rookie Gabriela Bryan had her in combination within minutes in their Round of 16 heat and despite some generous scoring never looked like taking the heat.

There will be major concerns in Camp Gilmore tonight RE making the cut. Portugal is likely to be powerful and tubular, not really Steph's forte, which puts all the pressure on Australia. Her record there is impeccable but Gilmore is not a great chaser. Her best work is done when she is in front of the field. Would Steph seriously consider jumping back down the Challenger Series at this stage of her career?

Gabby Bryan typifies the new gender-less approach. Her turn angles and power came from a non-feminine history, it looked like pure Hawaiian surfing. She was better than Luana Silva in their Quarter, and Luana was damn good - fully Sunset-experienced as a rookie. The Silva speciality was a huge drop deep on the peak, with a classic bottom turn to top turn combo. It was paid very well by judges, maybe too much so.

Shoulder reconstruction by Gabby Bryan (WSL/Heff)

Teenage girls, as Layne Beachley noted during a cross, will “earn more in an event than I did in a whole year”. The Blue Crush paradigm of girls cleaning hotel toilets to finance a pro surfing dream is long gone. Money is flowing abundantly into women's surfing and the biggest losers may turn out to be the incumbents swept away by the new tide of rookies. Parents watching today would be shepherding any girl with an ounce of talent into high performance coaching.

The “misogyny, chauvinism, and sexism” that Beachley fought against has been replaced by a well-paid phalanx of coaches, psychologists, and managers.

Bettylou Sakura Johnson seems 16 going on 30. There's no giggle or hesitation, just poise and full tilt surfing. She maintained the standard of the new rookie class comes from “pushing each other to do better”.

17-year old Bettylou Sakura Johnson with a clean turn on an unruly face (WSL/Bielmann)

How incredibly stale that attitude made the old order look. Tyler is 27, Carissa 29, Steph 34. By men's standards still well in their prime. By the standards of these new teen sensations they look done. Not one of them looked a Top 5 surfer today, let alone a multiple world title holder.

India Robinson who sat on the beach and watched Tyler Wright surf her heat at Pipe, looked more than ready for Sunset today. She was close to two points better than Sally Fitz in every exchange then foundered at the end of a slow Quarter-Final against Bettylou. Bells and Margies will suit her to a tee.

Courtney Conlogue was the only member of the Old Order who looked like they may bring a different level of surfing to the table today. Her 9.10 in the opening round against Lakey Peterson and Isabella Nichols was the ride of the day. Out of anyone, male or female, Conlogue looked most likely to sit out wide and deep to pick off one of the gorgeous blue peaks that tormented the viewer all day. The ones that offered what my friend Owl Chapman calls “the rocket drop”.

That peak Sunset experience will be denied, for various reasons, none of which seem to make sense when the drone angle shows one of those wave unloading out the back.

Conlogue sat out there and then got denied in her heat against Johann Defay, who was similarly denied access in her QF with Malia Manuel.

Manuel had the mana today. “Taken by surprise,” is the translation of Pau Malu, she explained to the viewer. In an incredibly calm and composed performance Manuel seemed one of the few competitors not taken by surprise. She picked off early rides in the non-priority part of the heat, then maintained pressure and a lead over her opponents.

Malia Manuel beaming off the top (WSL/Heff)

I'm not sure that approach will work against Gabriela Bryan. The last of the feminine stylists will need a bit more aggression in her approach to match the rookie in their Semi-Final.

Brisa Hennesy makes up the other Semi with Bettylou. That seems a more even encounter. Brisa is putting in big turns but without the flair and aggression of the younger Hawaiian.

The rookies today vindicated the investment in women's surfing. What seemed like insubstantial hyperbole at Pipeline all of a sudden seems a whole lot more real. Could this year's world champion come from the current crop of rookies? It seems a proposition hard to argue against after today.

Pickles for World Champ.

Get on board.

// STEVE SHEARER