Australian Molly Picklum and Brazil’s Yago Dora have been crowned the 2025 World Surf League World Champions after winning the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji Presented by Corona Cero, the last stop on this year’s Championship Tour. Both entered the event as the No. 1 seeds and delivered clutch performances in four-to-six foot surf at Cloudbreak to secure their maiden World Titles.
Picklum, 22, capped off a dominant season by defeating Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks in a best-of-three showdown. After dropping the opening match, she stormed back with a 15.83 heat total highlighted by an 8.83 tube ride. In the decider, she sealed the title with another 8.83, the highest single-wave score of the event, finishing with a 16.93 two-wave tally. The victory makes her the first Australian woman to win the crown since Stephanie Gilmore in 2022.
“I really feel like this is the cherry on top of what I’ve done to my career and my personal life, really turning things around,” Picklum said afterward. “To get this after such an amazing season is so special and something I’ll remember for life. To be the undisputed, undeniable champ is something I’ve dreamt of, and to win that way fills my heart.”
Photo by Ed Sloane/World Surf League
Molly Picklum of Australia after winning the 2025 World Title after Title Match 3 at the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji on September 2, 2025 at Cloudbreak, Tavarua, Fiji.
Picklum’s journey to the top was hard-earned. She missed the Mid-season Cut in her rookie year, then rebounded with breakthrough performances at Pipeline and Sunset Beach before reaching back-to-back WSL Finals in 2023 and 2024. Her rise is now complete, joining an Australian legacy of champions that includes Gilmore, Layne Beachley, Sally Fitzgibbons, and Tyler Wright. “It’s such a trip to be a Central Coast kid, growing up looking up to Steph, Layne, Sally, and Tyler, and to now be on a list with them. I just feel so honored and grateful,” she said.
For Marks, it was another bittersweet finale. She fought through a grueling run, beating Bettylou Sakura Johnson, Caity Simmers, and Gabriela Bryan to reach the Title Match, only to fall short against Picklum in the final heat. The result marks her second consecutive runner-up finish, though it reaffirms her place as one of the sport’s fiercest competitors.
On the men’s side, Yago Dora made history by clinching Brazil’s seventh men’s World Title in the last 11 years. The stylish goofy footer, long regarded as one of surfing’s purest talents, finally turned consistency into ultimate success. Dora, 29, strung together his best season yet with two event wins and three Finals appearances before arriving in Fiji wearing the Yellow Leader Jersey.
“It’s so crazy that the whole year is decided like that in one heat,” Dora said. “I’m really glad it came my way. I grew up watching Brazilians before me dominate and win World Titles, and it’s such an honor to join that list of names.”
Photo by Ed Sloane/World Surf League
Yago Dora of Brazil after winning the 2025 World Title after Title Match 1 at the Lexus WSL Finals Fiji on September 2, 2025 at Cloudbreak, Tavarua, Fiji.
In the Title Match, Dora faced Griffin Colapinto, who had been on a tear, eliminating Italo Ferreira and Jordy Smith earlier in the day. But when it mattered most, Dora kept his composure. He opened with a 7.33 on a clean carve-to-snap combo and followed with an 8.33 for three massive, varied turns, leaving Colapinto needing a miracle score. The Californian never found the wave, and Dora sealed his first World Championship with authority.
Colapinto, who won at Cloudbreak in 2024, finished the season as runner-up — the best result of his career — and fell just short of becoming only the second Californian man in history to win a world title.
For Dora, the victory marks the culmination of a steady rise from free-surfing phenom to world champion. Since qualifying for the CT in 2018, he has battled inconsistency before finally breaking into the Top 10 in 2023 and 2024. His triumph at Cloudbreak confirmed the transformation. “I feel like my heat strategy and everything were at a place where I didn’t always need to surf so well to get a result,” he said. “Sometimes it’s harder to make a heat with a smaller score than a massive one, and I was able to do that this year. To put it all together and finish like this is so special.”
The twin victories at Cloudbreak crowned a season that will be remembered for the rise of two new champions. For Picklum, it is the realization of a dream nurtured on Australia’s Central Coast. For Dora, it is the culmination of years of potential finally crystallized. Together, they mark a new era in world surfing — one led by a young Australian and the latest in Brazil’s golden generation.