Margaret River Pro 2025: Day 4

Sixteen heats of pro surfing conducted at 6-8 foot Mainbreak today in conditions which slowed down but held size into the end of the day. The Women's Round of 16, then Men's and Women's Quarters were concluded with all questions pertaining to the cut now answered.

Sally Fitzgibbons and Lakey Peterson were competing for the only real spot that counted which was position 14, the last one which enables a surfer to get a full year on the expanded women's CT in 2026. Sally got knocked by a last-minute ride from Gabby Bryan, who looked hapless and inept up to that moment. That left Sal out in the water, head in hands floating motionless on the water - a reprise of similar moments at Honolua Bay when world-title deciding heats went against her.

Gabby rips into her last ride as Sally looks on (WSL/Ryder)

Lakey then made it official by firing up to beat Tyler Wright after being dominated in a paddle for possession of a set wave, which Ronnie Blakey termed “submissive”. What followed was an almost Hulk-esque transformation from submissive to dominant. Lakey tore into the next wave with steam coming out of her ears for the best ride of the day - a hefty 9.10. Her back-up was surfed equally aggressively for a 7.17.

The story of the day was the losers, not the winners, but with WSL denied access (unlike earlier years where they “leaned into the narrative”) we had to make do with what the winners let on. In Lakey's case, she informed us the win came down to long moments of reflection over the preceding lay days when she decided with the cut looming, “I'm better than that...I'm not doing that again”. Luckily, Mainbreak is a perfect canvas for a display of will - you can surf harder, attack the end section with a greater will to win than your opponent. At least on the women's side of the draw where will is much less evenly distributed.

Lakey (WSL/Ryder)

What about Sally? Should we go back to 2022 for her interview after losing in the Round of 16 to Johanne Defay? (spookily, also by a last minute ride) Sally talked about her preparation, saying she felt a deep-seated belief she had the capacity to win any contest she went into. Said she loved to fight, loved to compete, loved everything about it.

That year Sal was granted a wildcard back to the CT. She failed to make the cut again in 2023, losing out to Caz Marks in the Quarters. Requalifying through the CS, Sal failed to make the cut again in 2024, losing out to Sawyer Lindblad after safety surfing a potential heat-winning wave in the final minute. And now Sally bows out again, failing to make the cut for the fourth consecutive time.

What happens now for Sally Fitzgibbon was the most important thing to find out from today and we are left in the dark.

Erin (WSL/Miers)

It's been a strange year for the Women's Tour. After riding an insane wave of hype last year after performances at Pipe and Sunset and Tahiti, and the rivalries that came with a new wave of talent, performances have cooled. We never saw the women in solid Pipe, perhaps by a vote, as we've learned has occurred at Margarets, where consensus amongst the women led to the Box being ruled out and possibly even solid, building Mainbreak.

Are the women now being protected from challenging surf? Are they dodging it themselves? Is this a new consensus developing despite what went down at Pipe and Tahiti last year?

Judges were caught in awkward moments today where the performance level was suppressed to laughably low levels by the panel when awarding high scores. The paternalism of a whole new scale being used to judge women's surfing seemed to be back in full force, a retrograde move after the performance benchmarks being set in the last two years.

Tyler (WSL/Ryder)

There were confusing performances from the women to match. Erin Brooks came out charging against Luana Silva with powerful turns and then self-combusted in the back half of the heat, handing over priority and then going to nuts in a rattled head space at a psycho section. Silva sat back and safety surfed two 6's for a win and a place on the back half of the tour. Too many times this year it seems default safety surfing has won key women's heats.

Vahine attacked and then froze up on a set wave to lose narrowly to Isabella Nichols. There should be a riot if she is not wildcarded into Tahiti as defending champ.

Whatever confusion existed in the Women's Round of 16 was replaced by diamond-hard action in the Men's Quarters. Leo and Griff fought the heat of the contest with Leo riding out of a huge closeouts huck for a 9 and Griff pulling his pants down minutes later when he took a smaller wave from under Leo's priority and launched a super lofty full rotation air for a 10.

Griff said later the air almost didn't seem real when he landed it and he had to keep reminding himself it was real and not a dream.

The other Colapinto put a demo job on Jacob Willcox with big power turns and an all Colapinto Final is now a live possibility.

Crosby (WSL/Miers)

The last below the line survivor with a chance to make the cut, Imai Devault, was summarily dismissed by Jordy Smith.

That leaves one wildcard left in the draw, the retired Bronte Macauley, who surfed twice today for victories over Caz Marks (super tight) and Molly Picklum (much more dominant). Caz is yet to post an excellent score this year which is a sign she is either surfing much, much worse than she has been (she got three excellent scores in the 2023 Margaret River Pro - is she surfing worse than two years ago?) or the judges have decided her backhand attack lacks variety, risk and execution.

It has to be the second, so why no mention of this from the booth?

Bronte wins, drops the mic and walks away from pro surfing? It seems outlandish but with no easy pathway to qualify for the tour next year what else does she do?

Caity found a way out of her mini form slump with a win over Luana Silva in the Quarters, admitting she had been trying to bulk up on pasta so she had more traction in the bump and offshore winds. Hard to see her being beaten in smaller surf tomorrow, especially if she can bring some variant of an air game to the Mainbreak.

On the Men's side, the Colapinto brothers are riding some kind of cosmic wind and with completion rates at a premium in slow conditions they will be hard to beat.

We'll wrap the Final tomorrow, along with an assessment of the success of the Aussie Treble.

Sure they squibbed it the other day and wasted precious time but the overall trajectory has been upwards.

//STEVE SHEARER

Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Round of 16 Results: 
HEAT 1: Molly Picklum (AUS) 9.17 DEF. Bella Kenworthy (USA) 8.10
HEAT 2: Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 8.73 DEF. Caroline Marks (USA) 8.33
HEAT 3: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 14.50 DEF. Brisa Hennessy (CRC) 14.16
HEAT 4: Luana Silva (BRA) 12.80 DEF. Erin Brooks (CAN) 12.50
HEAT 5: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 12.83 DEF. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 11.83
HEAT 6: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 9.20 DEF. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 5.73
HEAT 7: Isabella Nichols (AUS) 13.33 DEF. Vahine Fierro (FRA) 10.84
HEAT 8: Lakey Peterson (USA) 16.10 DEF. Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.27

Western Australia Margaret River Pro Men’s Quarterfinal Results: 
HEAT 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 16.33 DEF. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 15.73
HEAT 2: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 11.16 DEF. Connor O'Leary (JPN) 8.66
HEAT 3: Crosby Colapinto (USA) 15.66 DEF. Jacob Willcox (AUS) 11.10
HEAT 4: Jordy Smith (RSA) 14.50 DEF. Imaikalani deVault (HAW) 11.50

Western Australia Margaret River Pro Women’s Quarterfinal Results: 
HEAT 1: Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 15.00 DEF. Molly Picklum (AUS) 12.54
HEAT 2: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 9.50 DEF. Luana Silva (BRA) 8.84
HEAT 3: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 12.97 DEF. Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 8.83
HEAT 4: Lakey Peterson (USA) 16.34 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 14.33