Molly Picklum and Reef Heazlewood took victory last week at the Great Lakes Pro, the 2021 World Surf League Qualifying Series’s opening event.
The pair were the surfers to beat in choppy four to five foot in Tuncurry, each posting the highest scores of the event on finals day to clinch their maiden WSL QS victories.
Reef Heazlewood has completed a perfect comeback to competition with his first-ever WSL QS win at the Great Lakes Pro. After a 2020 season hampered by event cancellations and a shoulder injury, Heazlewood started 2021 more determined than ever, and it showed as he posted the three highest heat totals of the event on his way to the Final. In the Final, Reef came up against North Narrabeen’s Jordy Lawler, and the pair didn’t disappoint, going wave for wave until the last siren, with Heazlewood taking the victory.
“It’s been a long road back to this point after injury and Covid, so to start the year with this win feels incredible. Hopefully, it sets up the rest of the year,” said Heazlewood. “I think the conditions really played into my favour, and I was looking at these lefts peeling through before the start of each heat, and I just wanted to go out there and surf like I was making a video part. It was awesome.”
Molly Picklum has been a massive blip on the surfing worlds radar for a while now, but today she solidified herself as the one to watch as she claimed her first-ever WSL QS1,000 event win. The 18-year-old natural footer saved her best performance until last, posting the highest heat total of the final event against Sophie McCulloch. Picklum’s 15.00 point total came from a series of massively committed backside turns.
“This feels amazing and something I’ll remember forever,” said Picklum. “I’ve been dreaming of taking out a QS event since finishing runner-up in the Maroubra QS back in 2018, and to win this feels like I’ve achieved a personal goal. I’ve been staying here with my coach Micro (Glenn Hall), and working hard on my strategies and heat game plan while I’ve been here, and it helped to have him here alongside me. I can’t wait for the rest of the NSW Pro Surf Series over the coming weeks.”
Be sure to tune in this week as the Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series as part of the WSL Qualifying Series heads south for the Port Stephens Pro QS1,000, which will run from February 21 – 23.
