The world’s top surfers are in town and ready for a showdown at Lower Trestles just south of San Clemente, a chance for fans to watch their favorite surfers at the cobblestone beach.
The World Surf League contest’s waiting period kicks off on Monday, June 9, and runs through June 17, with organizers picking the best days for competition based on waves and surf conditions.
An early look at the forecast shows a solid swell for the first few days of the waiting period, and again heading into next weekend. Organizers typically make a call in the early-morning hours each day, and other factors such as wind or fog could cause delays.
The event, stop No. 8 on the World Tour, comes after a mid-year cut following the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, where the number of competitors was whittled down.
San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto said it feels “epic” to be home, seeing loved ones and friends, especially after a slow start to the first half of the season left him at risk of not making the mid-season cut.
But he made it and said he’s feeling good coming into the event, especially with the support of people in his hometown.
“Everyone in town is really excited,” he said. “Just having the crowd on my side, too, I think helps a lot.”
The strategy going into this event will be different from when he was going into last season’s finals, where he felt like he had to perform for the crowd.
“It’s more about just surfing smart heats,” he said. “So that’s kind of the mindset.”
Also making the cut and holding a spot in the Trestles Pro is his brother, Crosby Colapinto, and fellow San Clemente surfer Cole Houshmand, who ranked 21st, just one spot above the cut.
Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi is on the higher end of the rankings, with several high scores at events so far this year; he is coming into the Trestles Pro in the fourth spot.
South African surfer Jordy Smith will be wearing the yellow jersey, meaning he has the most points earned in this year’s World Tour events. Smith is one of the longtime veterans on the tour, joining in 2008, and two recent wins have given him momentum toward making the WSL Final 5 in Fiji, especially if he does well at the Trestles event.
Smith, who lived in Newport Beach for 10 years and San Clemente for five years, has had plenty of success here, winning the title at Lower Trestles in 2014 and 2016, and a runner-up finish in 2017.
While he moved back to his native South Africa just after the pandemic started, his time spent on the Trestles wave could give him an advantage.
“The experience that I have at the location, I spent so much time surfing this break, so I definitely have some familiarity with it,” he said.
When asked what is different this year to drive him to success, he credits his family, including his second child, now 2 months old.
Caitlin Simmers of Oceanside competes at the World Surf League championship held at Lower Trestles at San Onofre State Beach south of San Clemente in 2024. Now a regular stop on the World Tour, all of the world’s best surfers will compete mid June. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)The Trestles Pro could also be one of the last times to see 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in competition. The Florida surfer recently retired, but earned a “wildcard” spot into the event.
On the women’s side, Olympic gold medalist and world champion Caroline Marks, a Florida surfer who calls San Clemente home, made the mid-year cut, but San Clemente surfers Sawyer Lindblad and Bella Kenworthy came just short of points and were eliminated from the World Tour.
They now need to gain points on the Challenger Series to rejoin the world’s best.
Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers is coming into the event ranked second, looking to take the top spot at the surf break where she won a world championship last year.
Hawaiian surfer Gabriela Bryan is coming into the event as the highest-ranked female surfer. She arrived a week early for the event to get practice time on the wave.
“It’s always such a nice place to come early and visit, even just being around the town of San Clemente,” she said. “The waves have been so fun, there’s pretty good swell.”
While this will be the 23-year-old’s first time surfing the event as a regular stop on the World Tour, she spent many summers here as a kid competing, winning a USA Surfing national title about 8 years ago when she was 15.
“Growing up competing in the nationals, I would have never thought that I’d be on the (World Tour) wearing yellow at my first ever event here,” Bryan said. “It’s so crazy, it’s been a wild year. I’m having so much fun while doing it, but it’s super special to now be in my home country.”
The Lower Trestles wave is exciting to surf, because it’s a mix of rights and lefts and allows for carves and snaps and big end sections, Bryan said.
“So the possibilities are kind of endless, which makes it super exciting,” she said. “But mostly, just the high performance aspect of this wave is, I think, what I can say most surfers are excited for.”
She’ll have to get past many other surfers who want the win at Trestles, and while all the competitors are a threat, she knows the local surfers who have won World Titles here – Marks and Simmers – are among her biggest competition.
“They’re pretty incredible out here,” she said. “Anyone is capable and you can’t take anyone lightly, but definitely the girls with a little bit of hometown advantage.”
Lower Trestles, which was recently announced as the location for the LA28 Olympics surfing, returns as a regular stop on the tour after being the stage for the WSL Final 5 for four years.
This year will be the last for the one-day showdown that crowned world champions, with the WSL recently announcing a format change for next year. The Final 5 will be held in Fiji.
Getting there: Exit I-5 freeway at Basoline Road, stay to the right to the parking lot entrance. It fills up fast, so some people may be redirected to park at the San Onofre campgrounds. Shuttle service is available. Parking is $20.
The event is free to the public. For more information: worldsurfleague.com
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