3 months ago
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Australia’s newest surfing world champion Molly Picklum is still “three or four years” from her prime – that is the assessment of her long-time coach Glenn “Micro” Hall after watching the Central Coast native win her maiden World Surfing League title on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old won a marathon final against Olympic champion Caroline Marks in a winner-takes-all finals event at Fiji’s famed Cloudbreak and did so despite battling an illness for the past week, and then falling 0-1 behind to Marks after the first of three heats.
Australia’s Molly Picklum after winning the 2025 World Title at the World Surf League Finals in Fiji. Credit: World Surf League
But Picklum regained her poise and won the next two heats to in a stunning climax to her second full season on tour.
She follows Wendy Botha (1989, 1991-92), Pam Burridge (1990), Pauline Menczer (1993), Layne Beachley (1998-2003, 2006), Chelsea Georgeson (2005), Stephanie Gilmore (2007-10, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2022) and Tyler Wright (2016-17) as Australian women to win the world title.
Hall, who worked with Picklum from when she was 12 until the end of last season, sees big things ahead for the surfer who grew into a world champion while taking lessons from Hall and the world-class surfers he worked with.
“I believe her prime is still four years away, so that’s a scary, scary thought,” Hall said on Wednesday.
“She’s only just coming into the days of being in the mix for a world title.
“She got on the tour young, and when you start, no matter how good you are, you haven’t been to half the places you visit, and you’re so much like a deer in the headlights in a lot of these moments.
“So I would say this year was the first year she’s been completely in the mix for a title, and she’s probably got another 12 years on tour if she wants it, with a prime that’s still three or four years away – so it’s an exciting career to follow.”
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At home in Avoca on the NSW Central Coast, Hall, his wife and their children were cheering Picklum on in scenes he compared to a grand final.
Hall worked so closely with Picklum that she almost became part of the family, given how emotionally invested everyone was.
“My kids and wife are super close with Molly and have their own relationship with her, so we were all invested because we know how much has gone into it,” Hall said.
“The kids were jumping up and down, my wife and I were pretty pumped – when you are really close to someone and see how much goes into these things, it’s a strange feeling.
“All athletes go through a lot more than most people realise from the personal to physical, and it takes more than just the athlete – it takes a village and we were pretty damn proud of her.”
Hall lovingly recalled when he first was alerted to Picklum, who lived in his area and had caught the eye of some people with her tenacity and “fearlessness” in the local surf, which can be unforgiving.
He was already working with several elite surfers on the world tour, but Picklum was clearly special, despite standing at 165 centimetres and staring down waves above eight feet.
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“She was a little 12 or 13-year-old frothing grommet that surfed, played footy, did nippers and, like most little groms, did them all with max energy,” Hall said.
“There’s a couple of local crew who pointed her out and said, ‘This kid had gone something pretty special’.
“It was her eagerness to learn and her attacking nature in the ocean – she has this ability to be fearless in sections over dry reef and shallow water.”
The world tour will head into off-season mode and resume early next year, but Hall expects Picklum will be home soon enough and back out on the water.
“It’s funny with surfing – it’s as much a job as it is a hobby,” Hall said.
“It’s like I can guarantee she’ll be in the water when she gets home and enjoying surfing with her friends and being in the community where she just feels at home, and that’s what makes surfing so special.”
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