Molly Picklum: Get to know Australia’s surfing phenom
Australian surfing sensation Molly Picklum is on a meteoric rise after reaching the top of the world rankings. She won a maiden World Surf League title at Hawaii's Sunset Beach in February 2023.
Surfing
Barely in her twenties, Molly Picklum has a bright future ahead of her as she looks set to be among the top female surfers for years to come.
Picklum has been a revelation in only her second year on the WSL Championship Tour, earning top-five finishes in the first four events in the series, including her triumph in Hawaii and a second place at the Pro Bells Beach.
With the Championship Tour reaching the halfway point at this week's Margaret River Pro in Australia, the 20-year-old Picklum will hit the surf in the yellow leader jersey for the fourth time in a row.
Margaret River Pro is the mid-season cut where the women's field on the championship tour is reduced from 24 to 12. Surfers that miss the boat are relegated to the Challenger Series and need to requalify for the top-tier competition.
Molly Picklum: From euphoric high to desperate low
While Picklum is riding a wave of good fortune, she is well-versed in the brutal nature of the mid-season cut introduced for the first time in her rookie season on the championship tour.
What started as a dream 2022 rookie season on the Championship Tour turned into a disappointing low for the then-teenage prospect. Before she was unceremoniously eliminated from the Championship Tour roster, Picklum had two creditable top-five finishes to her name.
Picklum entered the fifth round of the series ranked 16th and needed to produce some of the best surfing of her life to avoid relegation. She ultimately lost her quarter-final resulting in her demotion to the Challenger Series.
"What a day!! Definitely going to take a little bit to digest such a crazy roller coaster of emotions," Picklum said in a post on Instagram.
"All I know is that my first five events on tour were so much fun, and I can't wait to fight my way back there. Although I didn't make the cut line this year, I'm pretty proud of my efforts, and I feel that I was right there in the mix."
Molly Picklum: Bouncing back
And fight she did. Although Picklum initially went through a slump as she came to grips with the extreme ebb and flow of professional surfing.
She had a hiccup in Sydney on the second leg of the Challenger Series before she got her groove back in South Africa. The victory in Ballito gave her the shot in the arm she needed, and she requalified for the Championship Tour.
"This win means a lot more than what it looks. I've enjoyed being open to try different approaches to each event to see what works best for me," Picklum wrote at the time.
"And doing so I've realised that you can perform with a variety of different approaches. Here in South Africa, I was fortunate to just do whatever I truly wanted to do, without the guilt that I should be doing more."
Molly Picklum: Reaching for the stars
The disappointment of demotion and the process of fighting her way back into the top tier of world surfing has reinvigorated the Australian talent.
Picklum did some serious introspection before she roared back into the Championship Tour for the 2023 season.
Bolstered by a maiden World Surf League title, Picklum her sights on bigger things, including a tilt at the world title and a qualifying spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
"My goals don't change much, I just want to see how good I can get. I want to chase world titles, and I believe they're on my radar if things go my way," Picklum told Red Bull.
"I need to jam my foot in the door, keep going where I'm going and see what comes of it. 2023 is the Olympic qualifying year, and every surfer on tour wants to be making that, the same way they all want to win events and titles, but all I can control is whatever I'm given.
"I'm driven, that's not an issue, and obviously, I want to make the final five at Trestles (WSL Finals) and give it a good crack, but all-in-all, my main goal is just to give it everything I've got in every moment I get. If I do that, I'm happy, and the rest will follow on from there."
The top eight ranked women at the end of the Championship Tour will earn their tickets to Teahupo'o, Tahiti, where the surf competition for Paris 2024 will take place.
Molly Picklum: Inspired by Ashleigh Barty
Born in Gosford on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Picklum has been splashing around the ocean since she was three starting out on a foamie (a soft surfoboard for beginners).
Before Picklum's passion for surfing became a full-time job, she played other sports like touch football and football.
Since her rise through the global surfing ranks, Picklum has been rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in sport. Chief among them is former world number one Ashleigh Barty, who is considered one of the young surfer's mentors.
"She (Barty) just has it all sorted. Surfers can look like they have it all together, but most of the time, they don't," Picklum told Red Bull. "Ash, she's just a legend. I really look up to the way she carries herself on and off the court."
Full schedule 2023 Championship Tour:
- Margaret River Pro (Western Australia, Australia): April 20 – 30
- Surf Ranch Pro (USA): May 27 - 28
- Surf City El Salvador Pro presented by Corona (El Salvador): June 9 - 18
- Rio Pro presented by Corona (Brazil): June 23 - July 1
- Corona Open J-Bay (South Africa): July 13 - 22
- SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro (French Polynesia): August 11 - 20
WSL Final 5 athletes decided for a showdown of men's and women's 2023 world title crowns.
- Rip Curl WSL Finals (Lower Trestles, USA): September 7 - 15
