Australian surfer Molly Picklum has become the first woman to ever score a perfect 10 on the famous Pipeline surf break in Hawaii.
The 21-year-old may have ultimately lost the heat to American surfer Caitlin Simmers but not before making surfing history with her perfect score.
“I feel like for me personally, there’s no more fitting place than Pipe to give me my first 10,” Picklum said.
“I’m just so, so happy — 10 points, it’s hard to come by.
“With the wave I was just like, ‘I need a score and I know she’s capable of a 10’, so I just took off and I just thought it’s got some draw to it and I may as well roll the dice and try.
“But 10 points, I love it, I want more.”
While men have been surfing Pipeline since 1971, women have only been allowed to compete at the famous break since 2020 after a fatal shark attack moved the 2020 Maui Pro from Honolua Bay to the North Shore.
Prior to that, Pipeline had always been considered too dangerous for women to compete at.
However, it’s the aggressive male dominated culture in the water that really puts so many female free surfers off the break.
2020 Pipeline champion, Tyler Wright, has previously campaigned against the problematic surfing hierarchy that exists there.
However, according to this year’s Pipeline champion, 18-year-old Caitlin Simmers, “Pipeline is for the f**king girls.”
“This wave is terrifying; I respect everyone who wants a part of it and everyone who doesn’t because it’s really scary out there
“It starts with all the girls that battled the guys and barely got any waves, and I hope that this event showed the girls can do it. We’re getting spat out all day, and it’s pretty cool to see. I’m really happy to be a part of it.”
The US champion had nothing but good things to say about her Aussie competitor.
“Molly’s a guru, she’s probably the best girl out here in my opinion,” Simmers said about Picklum. “One heat out here is like months of experience, and getting barrelled in a heat with your friend is the most fun thing in the world.”
