World Surf League (WSL) has announced the schedule for its 2024 Championship Tour (CT). The calendar will continue to showcase a combined women’s and men’s schedule featuring nine regular-season events, a mid-season cut after CT Stop No.5, and the fourth-annual WSL Finals.
In 2024 Fiji returns to the schedule for the first time since 2017 as the final stop of the regular season from 20-29 August. Next year, surfing will also make its second appearance in the Summer Olympic Games at Paris 2024, with surfing competitions being held from 27 July to 5 August 2024. The 2024 WSL Finals will be held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, from 6-14 September.
Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL chief of sport, said: “2024 is set to be a big year for surfing, and our schedule is designed to support that. I’m stoked that we’re bringing Fiji back. It’s such an iconic wave, and it’s the perfect place to test our surfers as they battle to secure their place in the WSL Final 5.
“We’re also really happy to confirm that the WSL Finals will return to Lower Trestles next season. We’ve hosted three exciting WSL Finals at this high-performance wave, which has proved to be an incredible showcase for the WSL Final 5 to crown our world champions. The Olympic Games represents one of the biggest stages in the world, and we want our surfers to have the opportunity to perform at their best, which is why we’ve instituted the scheduled break and updated CT dates in 2024.”
The calendar
The 2024 CT will include nine regular-season events in seven countries, starting in January at Pipeline, Hawaii. The mid-season cut will come into action following Stop No.5 in Margaret River, Australia. Surfers who make the cut will compete in Tahiti, El Salvador, and Brazil before a break for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The final event of the regular season will see the world’s best surfers return to the iconic Cloudbreak in Fiji and battle for a place in the WSL Final 5. Cloudbreak is a world-renowned reef pass located offshore the island of Tavarua in Fiji. It is one of the most awe-inspiring left-hand barrels and can hold waves anywhere from two-to-20 feet. Due to its fast and powerful nature, it is known as a highly advanced and heavy wave.
For 2024, the WSL Finals will return to Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, where the men’s and women’s top five surfers will face off for the world titles in the one-day, winner-take-all format. The waiting period will run from 6-14 September 2024, which is the ideal time of year for favourable Southern Hemisphere swells at one of the most high-performance waves in the world.
Images: Tony Heff/World Surf League