Surfing | Simmers Turns On The Style To Triumph At Surf Abu Dhabi Pro

World Surf League stars excel at the world's greatest wave pool in the United Arab Emirates.

Caitlin Simmers Turns On The Style To Triumph At Surf Abu Dhabi Pro

In the women's event, Simmers, Picklum, and 2023 WSL champion Caroline Marks all progressed through to the quarter-finals, however Olympic champion Marks fell to France's Vahine Fierro as fellow American Simmers saw off Bella Kenworthy 14.73 to 11.73 and Picklum defeated Canadian Erin Brooks 14.50 to 13.03.

Surf Abu Dhabi Pro Semi Final

The first semi-final saw Australian Picklum finish off strongly on the second right and left waves to rack up a decent 13.77 score that Fierro could not better with 10.53 as Simmers was pushed all the way by Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan, eking out a win by 15.14 to 14.53 thanks to a brilliant third wave.

Surf Abu Dhabi Pro Final

The final was a repeat of last week's semi-final Backdoor shootout for the ages at the Lexus Pipe Pro with Simmers, 19, again getting the upper hand over Picklum in Sunday's final on the back of a towering 8.67 first wave to claim the first 2025 season victory in the defence of her 2024 WSL title.

Caitlin Simmers Turns On The Style At Surf Abu Dhabi Pro

Stylish Simmers, who did not have a wasted movement or drop of water out of place, said: "It really feels good when you can do well under pressure, it makes your mind stronger when you're put in those situations. It was crazy to see Molly did good on both of her waves, so I had to get a score."

Watch Caitlin in Action

Picklum, who finished strongly with scores of 8 and 7.70 on her last two waves, is now 0-6 in career head-to-head clashes with her great rival. However Simmers added: "Molly pushes me so hard, she's a really spontaneous surfer, a fun human, lot of energy and she can pull it together so well."

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