“I am so stoked to be back,” five-times world champion Moore, who had her first child last year, told Reuters. World champion surfer Carissa Moore rides in the barrel during a competition in French Polynesia in 2024. Moore and Australian Gilmore, 38, dominated professional surfing for more than a decade and have 13 world titles between them. Even they might be looking over their shoulders at a new, even younger threat in the shape of French teenager Tya Zebrowski, who is the youngest surfer to join the elite world tour, having just turned 15. In a change announced last year, the World Surf League has scrapped its controversial winner-takes-all finale and returned to a cumulative points system to determine the titles.

Source: Taipei Times March 30, 2026 16:31 UTC