Sally Fitzgibbons And Yago Dora Awarded 2023 WSL Season Wildcards

Sal Fitz and Yago Dora will be awarded the 2023 CT wildcard spots. In addition, they will be the first replacements for the remaining events in the 2022 CT season. Any points earned by Sally and Yago as the replacements for any CT events in 2022 will count as rankings’ points. 

For the back half of this season Gabby Medina and Caroline Marks will get the season wildcards for the remaining five events. Both theoretically could qualify for finals’ day. We have discussed previously why that is incredibly unlikely. 

Marks was the youngest surfer to qualify and surf on the elite CT joining in 2018. Since, she has finished in the top 10 every year since and was runner-up for the World Title in 2019. Caroline withdrew from competition following the Billabong Pro Pipeline citing medical reasons.

The WSL explained Sal Fitz was awarded her wildcard Fitzgibbons for “competing on the CT for 14 years with three runner-up finishes to the World Title, four third-place finishes, and placing within the top 5 nine times in her career”. Yago for suffering, “a foot injury that made him unable to compete in any CT events this season”. Yago finished 9th on the CT at the end of the 2021 season.

This also means Liam O’Brien and Carlos Munoz, will not be getting to surf for the remainder of this season, unless multiple people get injured. Per their press release, “The WSL season wildcards are selected by the WSL Tours and Competition team following applications from athletes. The wildcard selection process takes into account competitive performance, such as World Titles, CT and Challenger Series rankings, and event results, as well as a medical evaluation if applicable.”

Interesting…

Should the old guard be thrown another opportunity after already having had the chance? Or should the fresh faces to the tour, and who never got their shot be given a fighting chance?

Personally, I think the latter.