BANZAI PIPELINE, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, USA (Friday, February 7, 2025) — The third day of competition at the Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI, Stop No. 1 of the World Surf League (WSL) 2025 Championship Tour (CT), was greeted with incredible conditions. Six-to-eight-foot peaks, with bigger sets, filled the shifting lineup with heavy barrels at both Pipeline and Backdoor. The men’s Round of 32 and Round of 16 were completed with overlapping heats to determine the men’s Quarterfinalists. Finals Day is now ready to run tomorrow, Saturday, February 8. The first call will be at 7:45 a.m. HST for a possible 8:03 a.m. start.
A mammoth day of action saw a vast array of tight match-ups that were punctuated by 12 scores in the excellent range (8.00-10.00), including Perfect 10-point rides from defending event winner Barron Mamiya (HAW) and 2023 victor Jack Robinson (AUS). World Champions, Tour veterans, and Rookies alike joined in pushing the boundaries of barrel-riding on an iconic day at one of the world’s heaviest waves. A full quarter of the day’s excellent scores were delivered by reigning World Champion John John Florence (HAW), who was eventually eliminated by Mamiya in a rematch of the 2024 Final.
Mamiya joins two other former men’s winners in progressing to the Quarterfinals, World Champions Kelly Slater (USA) and Italo Ferreira (BRA). A huge Finals Day awaits tomorrow when the men’s and women’s 2025 Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI winners will be decided.
Three World Champions, Caity Simmers (USA), Caroline Marks (USA), and Tyler Wright (AUS), waited patiently today but will rejoin the action tomorrow. So will 2024 runner-up and event standout Molly Picklum (AUS).
The Greatest of All Time: Slater Earns 100th CT Heat Win at Pipeline, Advances to 27th Event Finals Day
Today, 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) earned his 100th CT heat win at Pipeline. Slater’s incredible statistics at the location include appearances in 33 events dating back to 1991. The 52-year-old now enters his 27th Pipe Finals Day, having previously reached the Semifinals 25 times and the Final 13 times and claimed a record eight wins at this esteemed venue.
Slater appears in this year’s event as a wildcard after stepping away from full-time competition in 2024. His unprecedented heat win came in the Round of 32 over Rio Waida (INA) in their first head-to-head match-up, a childhood dream of 24-year-old Waida. The Indonesian led for much of the heat before Slater found his rhythm at Backdoor, but it was a classic Pipe barrel that earned Slater an 8.00 (out of a possible 10) and the win. The score was Slater’s first in the excellent range since the Final of his last victory at Pipe in 2022.
Gaining momentum through the day, Slater went on to deliver an iconic performance in the Round of 16. Slater convincingly defeated Australia’s World Title hopeful, 26-year-old Ethan Ewing (AUS), leaving the 2024 World No. 5 needing a combination of two waves to defeat him. After earning a 7.83 for a barrel at Pipeline, Slater exhibited shades of his 2022 victory when he soul-arched out of a deep Backdoor barrel to post a 9.33 and move into the Quarterfinals at Pipeline for the 27th time.
“This is what we live for at a Pipe event,” Slater said. “It just sends it to another realm. It’s actually hard to calm down for a heat. I don’t know if I was nervous or anxious or what, but I couldn’t calm my heartbeat down out there because I was just so excited. That made me tired. I was thinking, ‘How much mental focus does that take for 30 years?’ I just wanted to try to maximize the quality of waves. That’s the real star on a day like this, you’ve just got to kind of get in the wave in the right way.”
Mamiya Defeats Florence With Perfect 10 in Repeat of 2024 Final
An intense battle of Pipeline heavyweights played out in the Round of 16, when defending event winner Barron Mamiya (HAW) took on 2021 event winner and reigning World Champion John John Florence (HAW) in a rematch of the 2024 Pipe Final. Setting the tone from the opening moments, Florence pulled into a big barrel at Pipe that ultimately closed out. Mamiya, on the other hand, paddled into a perfectly tee-peeing wave, which the 24-year-old North Shore local converted into a Perfect 10-point ride.
Mamiya’s late, critical slide into the barrel at Pipeline was picture-perfect and was rewarded accordingly. It was a repeat of his performance in the 2024 Final when he also defeated Florence with a Perfect 10 for a Pipeline barrel.
“Surfing against John [Florence] anywhere, it kind of simplifies everything,” Mamiya said. “You already know it’s going to be big scores. I knew he really wanted to beat me from last year. And yeah, it was a wild heat. John’s Backdoor wave that he got, I honestly think when it came in, it was one of the best Backdoor waves I’ve ever seen. I was just super stoked to be out there and surfing with him in good waves.”
Florence’s first wave of note didn’t come until the 26-minute mark of the 40-minute overlapping heat. But the 32-year-old’s patience paid off as he collected a 7.43, which he immediately improved upon. A hefty, elongated Backdoor barrel earned Florence a 9.63, putting him in close striking distance to Mamiya, where he remained when the buzzer sounded. After deciding to take the 2025 season off, Florence entered the event as a wildcard and will next return as the WSL Season Wildcard for the 2026 CT season.
Fellow former event winner, Italo Ferreira (BRA), pushed through to his fourth Finals Day at Pipeline, his first since 2021, after defeating 2022 runner-up Seth Moniz (HAW) in the Round of 16. Ferreira, who claimed the event win and World Title in 2019 at Pipeline, will face compatriot Miguel Pupo (BRA) in the Quarterfinals. Pupo’s two heat wins today came after priority interferences in both match-ups, the first from Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) and second from João Chianca (BRA).
Buzzer Beater From Pittar Sets the Australian Atop Rookie Pack
Rookie George Pittar (AUS) found a buzzer-beater to defeat 2016 event runner-up Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) in the Round of 16 and advance into the Quarterfinals. 22-year-old Pittar remains the last Rookie standing and will be the only one of the nine surfers debuting this season to appear on Finals Day. Having grown up mostly on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu but also on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, Pittar seemingly burst out of nowhere on his road to the CT but is already entering his second Finals Day of the three CT events he’s entered.
“I can’t even believe I’m standing here right now to be honest,” Pittar said. “It was like 30 seconds to go, and I just saw this Backdoor one looming, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m swinging on it no matter what it looks like.’ I’m just so lucky that it gave me a bit of an exit and ended up being an okay wave. The fact that I’m standing here right now, going into tomorrow, is ridiculous. It’s just so special sitting out there and looking into the beach. Definitely a few pinch myself moments today, but I’m frothing.”
Earlier in the day, Pittar advanced over 2024 World No. 3 Griffin Colapinto (USA) in a rematch from the 2024 Margaret River Pro Quarterfinals, which Pittar also won. Fellow Australian Rookie Joel Vaughan (AUS) also claimed a Round of 32 victory over a seasoned competitor when he defeated the CT’s longest-standing member, Jordy Smith (RSA). Vaughan collected an 8.83 on a heavy barrel at Pipe to take the win but was defeated in the last heat of the day by 2023 event runner-up Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), who advanced to his third straight Pipe Finals Day.
Fellow Rookie Alan Cleland Jr (MEX) also took a big win in the Round of 32, where he faced 2023 event winner Jack Robinson (AUS). Cleland opened his first-ever head-to-head heat on the CT with a near-perfect 9.50. The 22-year-old took a critical drop into a cavernous Backdoor wall, reappearing after a large first barrel before taking on a risky second section over extremely shallow water. Emerging with both hands in the air, the first full-time Mexican surfer on the Tour had a huge smile on his face as he claimed his massive score.
Not to be outdone, Robinson responded with the first Perfect 10 of the season. The 27-year-old Australian took a late drop on one of the biggest waves of the event, directly into a lengthy Backdoor section, and emerged from a huge barrel after the spit. The heat went down to the wire with both surfers holding onto low back-up scores. In the end, Cleland took the victory, leaving Robinson to be the first man to lose with a 10-point ride in his scoreline since John John Florence (HAW) at J-Bay in 2017.
“We knew this day was going to be special,” Cleland said. “Once the heat draw came up after the Elimination Round, I knew I had one of the toughest heats ever in my life. That 9.50 came in and I actually was really doubting it, thinking about it. But Jack was right there pushing me, so I was like, you know what, I’m just going to roll the dice. I ended up rolling and going and the drop was pretty sick. I thought I was going to fall, my feet kind of got out of place. I ended up pulling in, pumping and then saw the next section and I almost was like, oh no, I’m going to straighten out for the score. And then I was like, you know what, I’m Mexican, I go all that all the time. I’m never going to go halfway.”
Cleland was later eliminated in the Round of 16 by a fired-up Ian Gouveia (BRA), who drove through the longest Pipe barrel of the day to earn a 9.00 and leave the Mexican requiring a 10-point ride. Gouveia’s performance in his return to Tour after six years away echoes his 2017 rookie season, when he made the Semifinals at Pipeline to claim his best CT result so far. The 32-year-old will need to maintain that form tomorrow when he meets Kelly Slater (USA) in Quarterfinal 3.
For highlights from today’s Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Round of 32 Results:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.00 DEF. Edgard Groggia (BRA) 5.93
HEAT 2: Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.60 DEF. Cole Houshmand (USA) 6.17
HEAT 3: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 5.83 DEF. Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 3.33
HEAT 4: Joao Chianca (BRA) 8.16 DEF. Marco Mignot (FRA) 4.80
HEAT 5: John John Florence (HAW) 17.30 DEF. Jackson Bunch (HAW) 6.50
HEAT 6: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 11.37 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 8.40
HEAT 7: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 12.00 DEF. Deivid Silva (BRA) 1.43
HEAT 8: Jake Marshall (USA) 12.26 DEF. Ian Gentil (HAW) 9.50
HEAT 9: Alan Cleland (MEX) 12.83 DEF. Jack Robinson (AUS) 12.17
HEAT 10: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 14.66 DEF. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 10.83
HEAT 11: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.83 DEF. Rio Waida (INA) 12.83
HEAT 12: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 13.27 DEF. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 5.50
HEAT 13: George Pittar (AUS) 12.50 DEF. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 8.10
HEAT 14: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 14.34 DEF. Liam O’Brien (AUS) 14.30
HEAT 15: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 14.10 DEF. Connor O’Leary (JPN) 13.00
HEAT 16: Joel Vaughan (AUS) 12.16 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 9.77
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Round of 16 Results:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.40 DEF. Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.83
HEAT 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 10.00 DEF. Joao Chianca (BRA) 6.33
HEAT 3: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 17.97 DEF. John John Florence (HAW) 17.06
HEAT 4: Jake Marshall (USA) 13.20 DEF. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 10.84
HEAT 5: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 16.50 DEF. Alan Cleland (MEX) 12.83
HEAT 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.16 DEF. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.83
HEAT 7: George Pittar (AUS) 14.10 DEF. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.83
HEAT 8: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 13.50 DEF. Joel Vaughan (AUS) 6.20
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Quarterfinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
HEAT 2: Barron Mamiya (HAW) vs. Jake Marshall (USA)
HEAT 3: Ian Gouveia (BRA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
HEAT 4: George Pittar (AUS) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Women’s Quarterfinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Isabella Nichols (AUS)
HEAT 2: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
HEAT 3: Caitlin Simmers (USA) vs. Sawyer Lindblad (USA)
HEAT 4: Brisa Hennessy (CRC) vs. Molly Picklum (AUS)
About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfing. The WSL oversees surfing’s global competitive landscape and sets the standard for elite performance in the most dynamic playing field in all of sports. With a firm commitment to its values, the WSL prioritizes the protection of the ocean, equality, and the sport’s rich heritage, while championing progression and innovation.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com
