WSL Announcement: 2020 CT officially cancelled & big changes for 2021
The season that never was
The year 2020 has been an interesting one so far. All around the world, surfers are locked inside waiting for the pandemic to end and hit the waters again. After previous announcements by the World Surf League about event cancellations and postponements in May and June, WSL CEO Erik Logan has now announced that the 2020 Championship Tour and the Qualifying Series are officially cancelled. 2020 will forever be the season that never was.
Whilst surfing in itself is a sport that can be practiced with social distancing measures in place, it is the international travel involved in running the tour that is currently uncertain. The decision has been made for that reason. Charlie is a bit disappointed but also happy that she attended the Quiksilver Pro France in 2019 as it might have been the last of its kind.
What’s in store for 2021?
In the same message that declared the 2020 season canceled, Erik Logan made some more details about the future plans for the tour public. It had already been mentioned in his previous announcements, but it now seems to be official: From 2021 onwards the world title will be decided in a single, final heat, in the water. The excitement we saw last year when Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina were competing at Pipeline for the much-wanted title will soon be a heat to look forward to every year.
To not keep surfers around the world waiting for much longer than needed, the 2021 season will start when the 2020 season would have ended: in November and December 2020 in Hawaii. Despite the changes to the tour schedule and its execution, all surfers who had been qualified for 2020 will compete in 2021. The women will be, for the first time since 2006, competing in Tahiti again – the same venue where the Olympic Games 2024 will take place.
The tour will end in September 2021 and there will only be one European stop in Portugal in February. The Quiksilver Pro in Hossegor is no longer on the schedule, but Charlie can hold on to her memories from 2019. The Challenger Series which replaces the Qualifying Series will take place afterwards so that surfers only have to focus on one tour at a time.
Part of the announcement was a few pre-season events, the WSL Countdown, in the USA, France, Portugal, and Australia in September and October 2020, but no further details have been revealed yet. A few days after the big announcement on 17th July, news was published about the 2020 Australian Grand Slam of Surfing to be held in Australia in September and October. Charlie is looking forward to seeing the world’s best surfers competing against each other again.
Further changes for 2022
As if a finals day isn’t enough of a change already, more is to come for the 2022 season when the WSL will implement a mid-season cut off. Only the top ⅔ of all competing surfers will battle towards the final. The numbers will therefore be reduced to 24 men and 12 women in the second leg of the season. Surfing will be more competitive than ever before!
