The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional Surfing founded by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick in 1976. IPS created the first world circuit of pro surfing events. In 1983 the Association of Surfing Pros took over management of the world circuit. In 2013, the ASP was acquired by ZoSea, backed by Paul Speaker, Terry Hardy, and Dirk Ziff. At the start of the 2015 season, the ASP changed its name to the World Surf League. Sophie Goldschmidt was appointed as WSL CEO on 19 July 2017. Paul Speaker had stepped down as CEO on 11 January 2017, and Dirk Ziff acted as the interim WSL CEO until Goldschmidt's appointment.
Frieda Zamba is a four-time world surfing champion from the United States. She won three titles in a row from 1984 to 1986, then won again in 1988. She lives in Costa Rica.
Rochelle Ballard is an American professional surfer and a veteran of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour. She co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and has appeared in several movies and television shows, including, Blue Crush,Step Into Liquid, and Beyond the Break.
Jacqueline Silva is a professional surfer from Florianópolis, Brazil. Her first professional season was 2002, when she finished as runner-up. In 2009 she was ranked tenth in the world and in 2011 she was ranked ninth. Her favorite place to surf is in Portugal.
John "John John" Alexander Florence is an American professional surfer. He is considered one of the most dominant pipe surfers of his era and won back-to-back world titles on the 2016 World Surf League and 2017 World Surf League Men's Championship Tour. He is the first Hawaii-born surfer to win back-to-back world titles since the late Andy Irons. Florence qualified to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in surfing's debut, as well as qualified for the Paris Olympic Games.
Carissa Kainani Moore is an American surfer. She was the first-ever winner of the Olympic gold medal in women's shortboard surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a five-time world champion, winning in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 on the World Surf League WSL Women's World Tour. Moore was the first surfer in history to win a WSL world title and the Olympic title in the same year.
Alana Rene Blanchard is an American professional surfer and model. Blanchard has surfed on the ASP World Tour.
Sally Fitzgibbons is an Australian professional surfer on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour (2009–2013). In June 2019, she was ranked No. 1 in the world for women's surfing after winning the Rio Pro.
Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer. He won the 2014, 2018 and 2021 WSL World Championships. In two appearances at the Olympic surfing tournament, Medina won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Kelsey Malia Manuel is an American professional surfer. She won Rookie of the Year in 2012 and was ranked 5th on the 2014 ASP World Tour. In 2008, at the age of 14 she became the youngest surfer ever to win the U.S. Open of Surfing.
Nikki van Dijk is an Australian professional surfer. She has been a touring competitor in the World Surf League, the top flight of international professional surfing.
Tiarah Lue Blanco is an American professional surfer from San Clemente, California who won the first place gold medal at the International Surfing Association (ISA) Open Women's World Surfing Championship in 2015 and 2016.
Sage Erickson is an American professional surfer born in Ojai, California, United States.
Barron Mamiya is an American junior professional surfer from Hawaii. He first competed in the Junior World Surf League in 2012 at age 11 and won the Men's Pro Junior Vans US Open of Surfing in 2018.
Luana Chiara Bühler is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Switzerland national team.
The 2020-21 World Surf League was the 44th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting international travel between and within countries namely Australia, Indonesia, Portugal and South Africa. The championships took a break for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The board changed the tour to a wraparound season of 2020-21, which allowed major changes to the tour schedule, with the Billabong Pipe Masters becoming the first round of the tour.
Brisa Tomi Hennessy Kobara is a Costa Rican professional surfer who competes in the World Surf League (WSL). In 2019, Hennessy's standing in the WSL qualified her to represent Costa Rica for Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo Olympics marked the first instance for surfing to be recognised as an Olympic sport. She participated at the 2024 Olympic Games achieving the fourth place, one of the best performances for a Costa Rican athlete.
The 2022 World Surf League was the 45th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. Billabong Pipe Masters will be the first round of the tour.
The 2024 World Surf League is the 47th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. Billabong Pipe Masters will be the first round of the tour.
Gabriela Bryan is an American professional surfer. She compete in the elite of the World Surf League. She was born in Kilauea, Hawaii on 9 April 2002.
