Beth Hamilton Has Been Awarded The Swatch Women’s Pro Wildcard, Again!

We’re suckers for a Bethany Hamilton story. And for the sake of gushing puffery, she’s a living cliché of inspiration. After infamously losing an arm at 13, she’s never left the limelight and has kept a positive outlook. She’s the brightest star at dawn. A real-life tale of not allowing life’s mishaps to be setbacks, but instead a new way of “living life to the fullest.” And if you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing her in the water, she’s awe-inspiring, absolutely rips and paddles circles around average surfers (that’s not a one arm joke), all while radiating ethereal stoke. She towed into Jaws last winter. She came third in pumping Fiji after she was awarded the wildcard this year (where she took out Tyler Wright and Steph Gilmore on her way to the semis!). She’s won an ESPY and has had a few biopics and biographies that tell her story. Hell, she even has a god-damn line of Emojis. 

So, we were pleased when the WSL announced her as the wildcard for the Swatch Women’s Pro (for the second year in a row) that’ll be hitting San Clemente’s cobblestone point come September 7th. 

“Lower Trestles is a special place – the perfect platform to showcase women’s surfing,” said WSL Women’s Commissioner, Jessi Miley-Dyer. “Bethany is an extremely talented surfer, and we are very excited to have her back at the Swatch Women’s Pro. After her incredible performance in Fiji, which is the best we’ve seen from a wildcard in some time, she has earned another opportunity to compete alongside the world’s best.”