Margaret River Pro: Bronte Macaulay, Sally Fitzgibbons, Molly Picklum, Isabella Nichols, Tyler Wright in mix

West Australian

25-05-2025

Australia's top men's hopefuls were wiped out in the carnage of the elimination rounds last week, but as the Margaret River Pro prepares to ramp up again on Monday, there are still five Aussies alive on the women's side of the draw.
The West Australian takes a look at how they can take home the title.
Two weeks ago, Macauley was focusing on developing the next generation, having decided to retire from the sport in October last year after failing to qualify for the 2025 WSL Championship Tour, and launched a coaching business.
But there's nothing like your home surf to reignite the passion, with the 32-year-old granted a shock wildcard entry, and has so far suggested her retirement may have been premature.
In what will likely be her final Margaret River Pro, the fairytale is on, after using her local knowledge to top her opening heat with a final 6.30 wave in the dying minutes to beat reigning world champion Caitlin Simmers.
Her path to the final does not get any easier, however, as she prepares to face the American 2023 WSL champion and Paris Gold medalist, Caroline Marks, in the round of 16, who breezed through her heat.
However, Macaulay is no stranger to knockout pressure, having made it to three consecutive semifinals from 2021-2023, often coming in as the underdog though she has never won on the championship tour.
But Macualay also has nothing to lose, describing every wave she gets a 'bonus,' having all but given up competitive surfing.
If she can survive the round of 16, there's the potential for an All-Aussie quarterfinal against Molly Picklum before a rematch with Simmers, whom she's already beaten.
Macaulay is coming from a long way back, but the path is there for her to write one of the sports great stories.
Sally Fitzgibbons has one of the most impressive resumes in the World Surf League with 12 Championship Tour event wins to her name and a three-time Tour runner-up amongst a litany of other accolades.
But her last Tour win was in 2021, with these past years a battle for survival, being cut in the past two seasons.
She sits on the precipice of being cut again, having only just returned to the tour, in a three-way battle with Lakey Peterson of the USA and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica to stay inside the top 14.
Fitzgibbons will need a deep run and probably to win the Pro for the first time since 2017 if she is to remain alive in this year's World Surf League championship tour.
She's already survived one scare, having to go through the elimination round, edging out fellow Aussie Willow Hardy to remain alive, an experience which left the 36-year-old in tears.
'I just want to keep fighting and trying my best. It's the whole scenario of riding the highs and lows of it,' she said.
She now faces defending Margaret River Champion and championship leader Gabriela Bryan from Hawaii, and the wait to re-enter the water will have done little for Fitzgibbons' nerves, which are living and dying on every wave.
There are no easy match-ups for Fitzgibbons these days, but a gold medal at last year's World Surfing Games and runner-up on the Gold Coast last event shows there is still talent to match it with the world's best.
She'll need it if she is to rage against the dying of the light but don't there's no doubt she won't leave everything out in the surf.
Australia's highest-ranked female surfer, Picklum, breezed through the opening heat despite being narrowly edged out for first place by Sawyer Lindbald and now faces Bella Kenworthy in the round of 16, who's fighting to stay above the midseason cut line.
Picklum is the only competitor inside the top seven not to win an event this season, but has been on the podium in four out of the six completed events, speaking to her consistency.
At just 22 and only in her fourth year on the tour, Picklum is still relatively young, but being in the final five the last two years shows how close to the top she is.
The key to taking the final is to get that breakthrough win and add to her two Sunset Beach titles.
Picklum is rightly the heavy favourite heading into her clash with Kenworthy, with either Marks or the aforementioned Macaulay to follow.
Reigning World Surf League champion Caitlin Simmers will likely then be waiting in the semifinals.
It's a tough draw, but one in which Picklum has the opportunity to shake off her nearly-women tag and take the Wold No.1 ranking heading into the final events.
Despite an inaugural win in Margaret River in 2022, this season has arguably been the breakout year for the 27-year-old Queenslander who hails from the Sunshine Coast.
Cut in the past two seasons, Nichols has had to fight her way back onto the tour and this time is determined to make it count.
Currently ranked fourth in the world, Nichols took just her second tour win at Bells Beach earlier this year while she's finished in the top five in four out of six events.
The Bells victory was sweet redemption for a heartbreaking defeat to Hawaiian gun Gabriela Bryan in El Salvador, Nichols having agonisingly given up the chance to be at her twin sister's wedding.
The 27-year-old will be hoping it's redemption in Margaret River as well after she nearly quit the sport last year, cut from the tour in a sudden death three-woman Elimination Round.
She now faces french woman Vahine Fierro in the round of 16.