Molly Picklum: From Cloudbreak Chaos to World-Beater
Sydney Airport looked more like a concert after-party on Thursday afternoon when Molly Picklum rolled in clutching the 2025 WSL women’s world title. Confetti, hugs, and even a few tears—Pickles had officially arrived as surfing’s newest queen. After knocking off 2023 champ Caroline Marks in a winner-take-all showdown at Cloudbreak, the 22-year-old Central Coast local became the first Aussie woman to take the crown since Steph Gilmore in 2022. Full reception shots and quotes from her post-flight interview here.
Big waves have always been Picklum’s happy place. “They scare me, and that focus just kicks in,” she told The New Daily from her celebratory hotel room, trophy doubling as an impromptu champagne flute. From stomach-high warm-ups to 12-foot Cloudbreak bombs, she threaded cavernous barrels with the poise of a vet twice her age.
Next on her calendar? Australia’s own Bells Beach will fire up the 2026 Championship Tour on April 1—meaning Picklum will start her title defense on home turf, bells clanging and wetsuits steaming.
Photographer’s Footnote
If you’re lining up shots at Bells next season, aim for the bowl section on a mid-tide west swell—Picklum’s backhand attack will peel like butter under morning side-light.