World Surf League Class of 2019 Determined

Photo: WSL / Cestari
 

Banzai Pipeline, Oahu/Hawaii (Tuesday, December 18, 2018) – The 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) season has come to a close with Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) earning her record-equalling seventh World Title and Gabriel Medina (BRA) winning his second World Title. Now, the 2019 Championship Tour will challenge the world’s best surfers, including a new crop of rookies who are officially solidified for next year.

The 2019 men’s Championship Tour class will be contested by the WSL Top 34, made up of the top 22 finishers on the 2018 CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the 2017 Qualifying Series (QS), and two WSL wildcards.

2018 Top 22 CT:

Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Julian Wilson (AUS)
Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Owen Wright (AUS)
Conner Coffin (USA)
Michel Bourez (PYF)
Wade Carmichael (AUS)
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Mikey Wright (AUS)
Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Michael Rodrigues (BRA)
Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Yago Dora (BRA)
Joan Duru (FRA)
 
 

2018 Top 10 QS (minus double qualifiers from CT):

Seth Moniz (HAW)
Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Deivid Silva (BRA)
Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Jadson Andre (BRA)
Soli Bailey (AUS)
Jack Freestone (AUS)
 
 

WSL Wildcards:

Kelly Slater (USA)
John John Florence (HAW)
 
 

CT Men’s Replacement Surfers:

Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Frederico Morais (PRT)
Ethan Ewing (AUS)
 
 

“It’s always a challenge when we have a large number of applicants for a limited number of wildcard positions,” Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner, said. “We truly appreciate and understand the value of being on tour and take this process very seriously. As it has for years, this process includes an independent medical review board, which assesses the applicants based on severity of injury and the impact it has on the surfer’s ability to compete at the Championship Tour level. In the case of 2018, all three applicants were deemed to have severe injuries that prevented them from competing in multiple events. From there, we apply our technical criteria and career achievement factors – which include World Titles, career results, prior year ranking, and ranking at time of injury. While all three have strong cases, we have determined that Kelly Slater (USA) and John John Florence (HAW) will receive the WSL wildcards for 2019 and Caio Ibelli (BRA) will be the first replacement for the tour – not something we guarantee to a third applicant most seasons but is deserving in this case.”

The 2019 elite women’s CT class will be contested by the WSL Top 17, made up of the top 10 finishers on the 2018 CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the 2018 Qualifying Series (QS) and one WSL wildcard.
 
 

2018 Top 10 CT:

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
Lakey Peterson (USA)
Carissa Moore (HAW)
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
Johanne Defay (FRA)
Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
Caroline Marks (USA)
Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Malia Manuel (HAW)
Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
 
 

2018 Top 6 QS (minus double qualifiers from CT):

Coco Ho (HAW)
Paige Hareb (NZL)
Bronte Macaulay (AUS)
Macy Callaghan (AUS)
Brisa Hennessy (CRI)
Silvana Lima (BRA)
 
 

WSL Wildcard:

Tyler Wright (AUS)
 
 

CT Women’s Replacement Surfers:

Keely Andrew (AUS)
Sage Erickson (USA)
 
 

The 2019 WSL CT will be the primary Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification avenue for the world’s best surfers. The world rankings at the end of the 2019 CT season will determine 18 of the 40 places at the Olympic Games (10 men and 8 women). The remaining 22 places will be determined at the 2019 and 2020 ISA World Surfing Games, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, and a single slot (each for men and women) for the host nation, Japan.

Of these 18 places determined by the WSL, there is a maximum of 2 men and 2 women for each country (e.g. if there are 3 women from Australia in the Top 8, only the Top 2 female Australians will qualify).