The land from down under has done it again. Australia which is known to produce surfing stars like Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons has produced yet another star, Molly Picklum. The 20-year-old surfing sensation is high on the heels of winning her maiden World Surf League Title, the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach in Hawaii. She is already creating massive waves in just her second year at the World Championship Tour. However, things weren’t as rosy for her the last year around. Despite putting her best step forward, Picklum failed to qualify for the championship tour. It was her rookie year at WSL (World Surf League), but it didn’t make her feel any better. Instead, she felt nothing.

In a YouTube video by Red Bull Surfing, the series What It Takes follows the events in the rookie year of Molly Picklum. When it gets to the point where her qualification is on the line, Picklum puts up a stellar performance. But she falls behind fellow surfer Courtney Cornlogue. It was as if the clock had stopped for Picklum and she didn’t know what to do.

From a low moment at WSL Championship 2022, Molly Picklum has risen to the top

“Courtney Cornlogue, we have to assume, has the momentum here. Molly Picklum now with a big ask in front of her. 6.5 – it’s her best wave of the heat but shy of the requirement. That will end the campaign for Molly Picklum in her rookie year on the championship tour”, a commentator said distinctly in the YouTube video, while Picklum was charting the waves. She felt nothing. It was complete numbness.

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Picklum said, “Went numb, to be honest! Like I didn’t even wanna feel negative because it was just such a cool year, and I would’ve loved to have made the cut”. Her voice ever-so-slightly shaking, as if she was trying desperately to hide her sadness. But it could not be hidden. The texts that floated on the screen read, “Molly does not earn the points required to remain on the WSL Championship Tour. And must return to the WSL Challenger series”. 

But the journey had just begun for the 20-year-old. Fast forward one year, and it’s 2023 Hurley Pro Sunset Beach in Hawaii. Picklum just knocked out her compatriot Tyler Wright in the semi-finals before clinching her maiden victory at the championship after beating American Caroline Marks. While the 20-year-old seems determined to take over the surfing world, people witnessed her caliber last year in Hawaii. Besides New York’s newest surfing star who won the men’s competition in Hawaii, Picklum stole all the attention.

Merely a hiccup in her journey, Molly Picklum has a bright career ahead

Molly Picklum, the 19-year-old then, won the Vance 2022 Pipeline Masters. The then-teenager won a whopping prize money of $100K but didn’t spend the money without caution. Picklum put it into a house deposit and continued living her dream.

When all of this is considered and put in perspective with the young surfing prodigy’s achievements so far, her failure to qualify at the WSL Championship in 2022, looks like a small hiccup. But the fact that it affected her so deeply, goes to say how much she cares about her sport and her career.