Team Dynamics Define Day 7 of the 2025 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games

Australia Takes Sole Possession of Rankings Lead

Defending Champion Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) One Heat From Sixth WSG Final

Making History for Sweden, Kian Martin (SWE) Isn’t Slowing Down

Surf City El Salvador – September 12, 2025

Day seven of the 2025 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games (WSG) may have featured the smallest swell of the contest period, but the action was still relentless. A slightly less consistent three-to-four-foot of swell made wave selection more crucial for the world’s best surfers.

Four rounds of men’s repechage were held to finish the day with competitors locked in for Repechage Round 9. Women’s Repechage Round 7 also took place, along with the two heats of Main Round 5.

Team dynamics defined many of the day’s most intense match-ups, with surfers of multiple nations progressing through heats together. The elimination of two Peruvian surfers from the second-last heat of the day was the most impactful. Lucca Mesinas (PER) and Lucas Perez (PER) were the first two members of their team to lose out, leaving Australia to take sole possession of the rankings lead. Peru now sits in second, with USA, Brazil, and Spain shuffling their positions but holding in the top 5.

The first women’s Main Round 5 heat featured two Peruvian surfers and the second two Australians. With Yolanda Hopkins (POR) claiming her fifth heat win in a row, Arena Rodriguez (PER) and Daniella Rosas (PER) were split. Rodriguez moved forward, while Rosas joined fellow Olympian Sol Aguirre (PER) in repechage. Placing fourth in the heat, Milla Brown (AUS) was the first of the Australian women to be relegated.

In the following heat, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Ellie Harrison (AUS) stuck together. The teammates placed one and two, respectively, to join Hopkins and Rodriguez in Main Round 6. Fitzgibbons now sits one heat away from her sixth WSG Final.

“We try and make it look very calm when we’re out in the lineup,” Fitzgibbons said. “You get out there and it’s, I guess, being alert but not alarmed to try and utilize that 20 minutes well and make good decisions. You’ve got to perform well, still attack, complete your ride, and your strategy has to be spot on. So for both Aussies to move through that was such an unreal feeling. We’re that stoked and another opportunity coming up.”

Nanaho Tsuzuki (JPN) waited for the majority of the heat to catch her first wave and claim the highest single wave score of the day for the women, an 8.17. However, Tsuzuki ran out of time to find a second wave and will now have to fight back in repechage. A similar situation played out for Callum Robson (AUS), whose 8.93 was the best of the day for the men. Without a backup, Robson was the first Australian to be eliminated.

Some of the day’s best performances resulted in initial heat wins for surfers like Sebastian Williams (MEX), Frederico Morais (POR), and Luke Guinaldo (USA), who each earned excellent scores, but all three were eliminated by day’s end.

Two surfers who did break into the excellent range to continue their campaigns were Jabe Swierkocki (USA) and Franco Radziunas (ARG). The sole remaining team member for Argentina, Radziunas picked up a buzzer-beating 8.60 to stay alive for another day.

“I didn’t start great,” Radziunas said. “I mean, I couldn’t find the waves I was watching from outside, but I knew I could do it even though I needed a high-7. And I’m glad that last wave came and I went for it and I made it. So yeah, I’m stoked.”

Making History for Sweden, Kian Martin (SWE) Isn’t Slowing Down

Having already claimed a historical best result for his nation by progressing through to Main Round 5, Kian Martin (SWE) continued his run today in repechage. The 23-year-old won a tight heat that saw two-time WSG Silver Medalist and two-time Pan American Games Gold Medalist Lucca Mesinas (PER) eliminated. Growing up in Bali, Indonesia, Martin has honed his craft on some of the best waves in the world. Competing in his first WSG since 2021, when he set the previous record for his nation, Martin’s goals lie firmly with becoming Sweden’s first Olympic surfer.

“Let’s keep it going,” Martin said. “I feel like I still got more left in the tank, so hopefully we can go bigger actually. Every heat’s a final, like these are the best surfers in the world, so I’m happy to be with the best. They bring the best out of me.

“We’ve got a few different nationalities that are representing Sweden. So we get a bit from everywhere. From the very first day we got with each other, we all gave each other so much love and support. Everything I want to hear, I’ve been hearing it and everything I can give, I’ve been trying to give, as much as we can in terms of lifting each other up. I think that’s what the team is for and I couldn’t be happier to have a better team.”

Competition will resume tomorrow, Saturday, September 13, at 7:00 a.m. CST with men’s Repechage Round 9 at La Bocana.