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Local OC, San Diego surfers gear up for this year’s World Tour

April 1, 2026

The world’s best surfers are back in action for the competition season, among them nearly a dozen local surfers from Orange County and San Diego who all have the same goal: clinching a world championship title by the end of the year.

Some are now veterans who have spent several years surfing among the elite on the World Surf League’s World Tour and others are just getting their feet wet.

On the men’s side, three San Clemente hopefuls will be competing as the season kicks off this week in Australia, including brothers Griffin and Crosby Colapinto joined by good friend Cole Houshmand. Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi is a familiar face who is going into his 10th season on tour, and Encinitas’ Jake Marshall is back in the lineup.

The women’s roster also has several San Clemente locals, including Sawyer Lindblad and Bella Kenworthy, along with Caroline Marks and Lakey Peterson, who now call the beach town home. Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers, vying for another world championship, and Encinitas’ Alyssa Spencer are also among the world’s best women on this year’s tour, which will take them from Fiji to Abu Dhabi, with a stop close to home at Lower Trestles in September.

This year marks 50 years since Peter “PT” Townend was crowned the first world champion in a ceremony in Hawaii in 1976.

“It was our dream, we would make a career pro surfing,” said Townend, who now calls Huntington Beach home. “We modeled it after car racing, like a driving champion at the end of the year. … I had a really, very consistent year of the events that were rated. They deemed me the champ.”

After testing out a one-day showdown format the past few years for crowning the world champ, the World Surf League will return to that original points system to determine the title winners. The tour will also once again end at Hawaii’s North Shore at the famed Pipeline surf break.

There will also be more women competing this year, with the field increased from 18 to 24 to further the WSL’s effort toward equality. And two big-name veterans who had skipped recent years, five-time world champion Carissa Moore and eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, are back to shake things up.

Ahead of the start of competition in Australia at the Rip Curl Bells Beach, which has a waiting period from April 1 to April 11, local surfers spoke about their hopes and mindsets heading into the season, what they did at home while on their months-long break and how they’ve prepared for the intense competitions ahead.

Surfers from left: Crosby Colapinto, his brother Griffin Colapinto, and Cole Houshmand will all be traveling the world, and competing against each other, on this year's World Tour, which kicks off in Australia. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG) — Surfers from left: Crosby Colapinto, his brother Griffin Colapinto, and Cole Houshmand will all be traveling the world, and competing against each other, on this year’s World Tour, which kicks off in Australia. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“I feel pretty good. I feel ready, confident,” said Simmers before the competition got underway. “Mostly good things and feelings.”

Simmers spent much of her offseason in Oceanside hanging out with friends, she said, camping, going on bike rides, listening to music and going to concerts and skateboarding.

“This was definitely the longest break I’ve ever had,” she said. “I think it was pretty needed for me.”

She came in fourth in the rankings last year, feeling “pretty decent in competition.”

Oceanside's Caitlin Simmers is gearing up for another year on the World Tour with hopes of earning another world title. (Mark Rightmire/Orange County Register/TNS) — Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers is gearing up for another year on the World Tour with hopes of earning another world title. (Mark Rightmire/Orange County Register/TNS)

“I learned that I need to focus on my relationship with the ocean, that’s what’s going to bring me ultimate success in life, not just having a bunch of world titles,” she said. “This year will be a test of my so-called new mindset. This year, I want to have a good time. It sounds kind of dumb, but I just want to enjoy myself and hopefully results will come with that.”

And when the stressful moments come, she’ll fall back on what she knows brings her joy, she said: surfing and traveling the world.

She’s looking forward to Pipeline, a place she has a special relationship with after a big win in 2024 at just 18 years old, which kicked off her dominance that year that ultimately ended with her as world champion.

“I love Pipe, I love being terrified and I love being taught by the ocean,” said Simmers, now 20.

San Clemente surfer Caroline Marks celebrates after winning the women's gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, in 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP) — San Clemente surfer Caroline Marks celebrates after winning the women’s gold medal final in the surfing competition during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, in 2024. (Ben Thouard/Pool Photo via AP)

Olympic gold medalist Marks, who grew up in Florida but now calls San Clemente home, said the start of the new year feels like the first day at school.

The break gave her time with friends and family, mixed with a few surf trips and training.

“I’m pretty psyched, this is the most excited I’ve been, rejuvenated and refreshed,” said Marks, heading into her eighth year on the World Tour. “I’m looking forward to being nervous, craving the adrenaline and nerves. It’s another year to try and get better and accomplish some more of my goals.”

Marks, who won a world championship in 2023, came in runner-up at last year’s finals. This year, she’s back to try and reclaim the top spot.

“There’s no secret, I’m here to win,” she said.

But she also wants to have fun and enjoy the journey.

“We live such a great life and travel to all these places,” she said, noting that Australia is one of her favorite stops, where she clinched her first-ever World Tour win.

While her focus is on the World Tour, she’s also working toward a third Olympic appearance in 2028 at Lower Trestles. While qualifications aren’t until next year, excitement is brewing for spots in the Summer Games.

“The fact that I can be in America and we’re the hosting nation is pretty incredible,” said Marks, who won gold in Tahiti during the 2024 Paris Olympics. “Having all my loved ones there, that’s just amazing, it’s a huge motivation to make it.”

Marks, now 24, said she’s leaning on experience heading into this year.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, but we are learning things every year,” she said. “There’s so much to learn in life in general. I feel like I’ve found a good balance for myself, to enjoy and not get too caught up in moments that don’t go my way.”

San Clemente's Bella Kenworthy joins the ranks of the world's best on the World Tour this year, going up against her idols for a chance at a world title. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) — San Clemente’s Bella Kenworthy joins the ranks of the world’s best on the World Tour this year, going up against her idols for a chance at a world title. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Newcomer on tour Kenworthy, of San Clemente, is “super excited” to join the ranks of the world’s best.

“This was always my ultimate goal,” said the 19-year-old.

As a kid, her dad worked in the surf industry, so she got to know many of the older pro surfers, she said, many of whom she will now be competing against.

“I was always looking up to them,” she said. “I always knew it was something I wanted to do. I look up to a lot of the older girls I grew up watching. I was rooting for them in heats, now I’m surfing against them, which is really cool.”

She’s most looking forward to going up against Moore, who is returning to the World Tour after having a baby.

“It has always been a dream to surf against her,” Kenworthy said. “It’s going to be really fun.”

San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto, also heading into his eighth year on tour, came painfully close to the world championship last year in a showdown against Brazilian Yago Dora, who ultimately took the title win.

San Clemente's Griffin Colapinto surfs in the Lexus Tahiti Pro in 2025 at Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia. He's gearing up for another year going up against the world's best, including brother Crosby Colapinto. (Photo by Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League) — San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto surfs in the Lexus Tahiti Pro in 2025 at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia. He’s gearing up for another year going up against the world’s best, including brother Crosby Colapinto. (Photo by Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League)

“My biggest takeaway is how well you’re able to handle adversity. I think that is the test of a champion,” Colapinto said. “The better you handle it, the better the outcome.”

He spent a lot of time at home during the five-month break, he said, golfing with his brother, Crosby, and even fellow San Clementian Sam Darnold after the Seattle Seahawks quarterback won the Super Bowl.

Colapinto’s plan for this season is to stick with his routines and maintain balance, he said. He’s most excited about the new stop in New Zealand, he said, a place he’s never been to before.

Igarashi got a good taste of trophies and final-day finishes on last year’s tour.

Kanoa Igarashi, of Huntington Beach, surfs during the finals of the Trestles Pro in 2025, where he came in second spot. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“I’m going into this year packaging it all a little better and making sure I iron out all the little stuff,” he said. “The more time you put in, the more you get out of it. I think it’s a combination of maturity and spending time becoming stronger mentally.”

He’s most excited, he said, about competing again at Lower Trestles, at home, at a place he grew up surfing. Last year, he took second place at the Trestles Pro.

“Competing at home and in Orange County is something we get to experience once a year,” he said. “It’s a really special one. When the calendar comes out, that’s the one I’m looking for.”

It’s the same spot where he hopes he will make his third Olympic appearance for Team Japan for LA28.

“Knowing I could possibly be competing for a gold medal at a wave I grew up surfing is a crazy feeling,” said Igarashi, who took home silver in Japan’s 2020 Olympics. “I feel like home-court advantage is a huge thing when it comes to the Olympics. There’s something about competing at home. I want to hone in on that and use that to my advantage and do my best to compete for that medal.”

For more on the World Tour, or to tune into the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, visit worldsurfleague.com

Local OC, San Diego surfers gear up for this year’s World Tour Orange County Register

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Local OC, San Diego surfers gear up for this year’s World Tour

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