Watch: Molly Picklum Scores Perfect 10 In Firing Surf At Pipeline
With the waves firing at Pipeline on finals day of the Pipe Pro, Australia's Molly Picklum picked off the wave of the event. Taking off steep and deep on a flawless eight-foot wave at Pipe, Picklum set her line, grabbed her rail and a few seconds later came flying out behind the spit, hands oh-so stylishly raised in the air. The judges didn't hesitate, awarding her with a perfect 10-point score for the effort.
Picklum has been one of the in-form surfers of the Pipe Pro from her opening heat, where she scored an 8-point ride to cruise to an easy win. She kept rolling in the next round, where she handled U.S. rookie Alyssa Spencer. And in the quarterfinals, she took out France's Johanne Defay.
This set her up with a showdown with North Shore local and rising Championship Tour star Bettylou Sakura Johnson in the semifinals. The surfer from Hawaii jumped out to an early lead, but with the waves firing, Picklum found a gem and turned a lifelong dream into a reality.
One of the most historic, and soon-to-be iconic moments in the history of women's surfing, the wave stands as one of the best ever ridden in competition. Picklum then went on to face 18-year-old Californian Caity Simmers in the final, setting up what some consider to be a preview of the world title race at the end of the year. Simmers eventually took the win, while Picklum got the wave of the day on a monumental day for women's surfing at Pipeline.
