Caitlin Simmers wins the World Surfing League crown and dunks the Olympic champion

Caitlin Simmers won the World Surf League final on Friday by defeating Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks in the title match.

At 18, Simmers was the youngest surfer to win a world championship.

She beat the record set by Carissa Moore, who won the Association of Surfing Professionals championship in 2011 at the age of 18 years, 10 months and 18 days.

Simmers was 18 years, 10 months and 12 days old on Friday when she triumphed at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California.

Her victory over Marks, who won an Olympic gold medal less than six weeks ago and was hoping for her second consecutive WSL final victory, capped a spectacular season.

“I didn’t want Caroline to win everything because this girl wins everything and she’s the toughest opponent,” Simmers said during an interview on the WSL broadcast. “And she literally never falls. So I thought this was not going to be a walk in the park.”

Simmers, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, dominated in 2024, winning three of the nine events leading up to the final.

In the men’s competition, American John John Florence won his third world title by defeating Brazilian Italo Ferreira in the final.

Florence, 31, and Simmers each received $200,000 for their victories.

The women’s title fight was a showdown between two top Americans and an exciting best-of-three race.

Simmers, the number 1 seed, lost the first run to Marks, the number 2 seed, who scored a 9.60 point ride in the final seconds. But Simmers was able to respond in the second run.

She rode at 9.20 and 9.17 seconds for a stunning two-wave total score of 18.37 out of 20. According to the WSL broadcast, this was the highest combined heat score in the history of the final and more than enough to win the heat ahead of Marks, who achieved a two-wave score of 14.17 seconds.

In the third run, Simmers prevailed, achieving a score of 15.16 in two waves, and Marks, who could not find a suitable second wave, achieved a score of 7.17.

“It means so much to me,” Simmers said sadly. “I’ve literally experienced every single emotion today. And it’s just (expletive) crazy. I’ve felt so much love from everyone today.”

Marks, 22, won $100,000 as runner-up. Marks, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 5 seed Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil to reach the final.

In a rematch of her gold medal match at the Paris Olympics, Marks caught the decisive wave with less than six minutes to go to defeat Weston-Webb, who won a silver medal in Paris.

Weston-Webb won $75,000 for her third-place finish. In the “final five,” Brisa Hennessey of Costa Rica finished in fourth place, winning $60,000, while Molly Picklum of Australia won $40,000 in fifth place.

Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11

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