This Thursday, the World Surf League announced the wildcards for the 2025 World Tour season, in addition to announcing special guests for some of the remaining stages of the second half of the current season. Among them, Kelly Slater stands out. At 52 years old and after being relegated from the Tour this month, the 11-time world champion will return to action at the Teahupoo, in Tahiti, and Cloudbreak, in Fiji. In addition to Slater’s presence in these tube wave events, the WSL confirmed that Brazilians Filipe Toledo and João Chianca will be the wildcards on the men’s circuit next season. Chianca missed the Tour due to injury and will return to action this season, while two-time world champion Filipe Toledo took a sabbatical, although he has been guaranteed a place for next year. On the women’s circuit, the invitations went to North American Lakey Peterson, who will continue to compete in the second half of the season, after being the first surfer to miss the mid-season cutoff. The other season wildcard goes to Australian Stephanie Gilmore. The eight-time world champion also took a sabbatical in 2024, but will return to action next season.
The second half of the World Tour season starts at the end of May, in Tahiti, where Carissa Moore and local Vahine Fierro will have invitations to the women’s race. The stages of El Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and Fiji follow, with the top 5 in the men’s and women’s world rankings moving on to the final at Trestles, in California, where the world titles are defined.
