The 2018 Championship Tour (CT) season has come to a close with Stephanie Gilmore winning a record-equaling seventh World Title and Gabriel Medina winning a second. In addition, a new crop of rookies has officially been solidified for next year.
The 2019 men's CT class will be contested by the Top 34, made up of the top 22 finishers on the CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the Qualifying Series (QS), and two WSL wildcards.
Rookies Peterson Crisanto, Seth Moniz, Deivid Silva, Soli Bailey and Mikey Wright will be making their debut full time on the CT.
Seth Moniz - WSL / Kelly Cestari
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)
Mikey Wright (AUS) - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"It's always a challenge when we have a large number of applicants for a limited number of wildcard positions," said Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner. "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 women's CT class will be contested by the WSL Top 17, made up of the top 10 finishers on the CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the Qualifying Series (QS) and one WSL wildcard.
Macy Callaghan - WSL / Tom Bennett
The roster will see two new rookies surfing on the world stage: Macy Callaghan and Brisa Hennessy. Callaghan and Hennessy both qualified for this year's Tour after their performances at the QS Port Stephens Toyota Pro held at Birubi Beach in New South Wales, Australia.
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)
Official 2019 Class List
WSL
The 2018 Championship Tour (CT) season has come to a close with Stephanie Gilmore winning a record-equaling seventh World Title and Gabriel Medina winning a second. In addition, a new crop of rookies has officially been solidified for next year.
The 2019 men's CT class will be contested by the Top 34, made up of the top 22 finishers on the CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the Qualifying Series (QS), and two WSL wildcards.
Rookies Peterson Crisanto, Seth Moniz, Deivid Silva, Soli Bailey and Mikey Wright will be making their debut full time on the CT.
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," said Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner. "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 women's CT class will be contested by the WSL Top 17, made up of the top 10 finishers on the CT Jeep Leaderboard, the top 6 finishers on the Qualifying Series (QS) and one WSL wildcard.
The roster will see two new rookies surfing on the world stage: Macy Callaghan and Brisa Hennessy. Callaghan and Hennessy both qualified for this year's Tour after their performances at the QS Port Stephens Toyota Pro held at Birubi Beach in New South Wales, Australia.
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)
News
Finals Day is set at La Zicatela after a showcase from defending event victor John Mel posting a 9.00, cover time for Will Deane and Rey
In the final heat of the Round of 16, John Mel secured his place back into Finals Day at La Zicatela with a lofty full rotation to earn a
More aerial antics from John Mel and Hayden Rodgers tipped the scale alongside breakthroughs for Dylan Hord, Sam Reidy, and more with
A dominant showing from Sebastian Williams headlined Day 2 action alongside Hayden Rodgers, Kei Kobayashi, and Jake Davis with excellence
Day 2 witnessed fireworks and Sebastian Williams led the charge with a 9.75 utilizing his aerial antics.