As the froth settles on the monumental Pipe finals day and the CT brigade prepare to joust with lurching Sunset peaks, it’s worth reflecting on what actually went down for the women at Pipe.
‘Pipeline is for the fucking girls,’ said 18-year-old Caity Simmers moments after clinching her first Pipeline victory.
By now you will have seen the raw and unfiltered line from Caity, which is doing the rounds on social media.
The rebellious quip has fast become a bumper sticker for a watershed moment in women’s competitive surfing because on final’s day, she was exactly right – Pipeline was for the fucking girls.
While the men put on an expected day of heroics in pristine conditions, it was the women who stole the show by, once again, raising the standard of women’s competitive surfing and proving that they belong at one of the most dangerous waves in the world.
During final’s day the women scored four 9+ rides, all of which had myself and other viewers making loud interjections at our screens. One of which was Molly Picklum’s 10 where she took off deep on a Pipe cavern, manipulated her body to control speed, knifed a rail, evaded a guillotine lip and then steered her DHD through a yawning cavern that spat her into the channel. In the commentary parlance it was a ‘technical backside tube ride’. By technical they mean it requires a heightened level of co-ordination and wave awareness to execute. According to Pipe maestro, Tom Carroll, it sent women’s surfing into ‘another era’.
In comparison, there was not a single 9-point ride given during the women’s event at Pipe last year.
Since the introduction of the women at Pipe in 2020, the WSL has often been accused of sending them out in sub-par conditions, giving viewers no indication of their true potential at the proving ground.
Tyler Wright has previously argued that women don’t get the same practise at Pipe because they have to compete in the lineup with ‘150 guys’.
Judges have also been criticised for their scoring scales, some suggesting the women receive good-to-excellent scores for waves which wouldn’t fetch anything above a 5 in a men’s heat.
Despite once again being sent out in sub-par conditions earlier in the week, the women were finally given their chance to shine at pristine Pipe during this year’s finals day.
During women’s competition we are accustomed to seeing household names such as Carissa Moore and Tyler Wright dominating our screens. However, neither was anywhere to be seen on finals day as they both bowed out of the competition at earlier stages.
The semi-finals were made up of Caity, Brisa Hennessy, Molly and Bettylou Sakura Johnson who are 18, 24, 21 and 18 respectively.
Do these young women, all of whom could be considered CT novices when you compare their number of years on tour to people like Carissa and Tyler, represent a changing of the guard?
Much has been made of the new wave of women’s talent on tour. Many of them have been commended for their ability to go bigger, faster and harder in waves of consequence.
The four in the semi’s continued to play on that narrative.
Semi-final number two could even go down as the heat of the event as Molly and Bettylou traded Pipe bombs. Amongst the drama, Molly collected that 10 and at the eleventh hour, Bettylou answered back, disappearing behind the Pipe curtain and then reappearing before finishing the ride with a hefty backside hook. She scored an 8.33, which was just shy of the score she needed.
The final was just as entertaining as Caity picked up an 8.83 and a 3.83, while Molly fell short with a 9.27 and a measly 1.37 as a backup.
While it is extremely commendable that the number of excellent scores shown by the women increased this year, I think it is more important to note just how much the quality of those rides continues to increase each year.
The women are choosing bigger waves, taking off deeper, getting barrelled for longer and are constantly pushing the boundaries. At the forefront of this, are surfers like Caity and Molly. Although not a CT regular Moana Jones Wong is part of the conversation at Pipe and it was unfortunate we didn’t get to see last year’s champion showcase her skills in genuine Pipe conditions.
If the performances at Pipe were a taste of what is to come this year, we are all in for a treat. Fiji and Tahiti should be riveting fixtures and who knows how hard the women will charge to win a gold medal at Teahupo’o?
