World Surf League announces 2024 Challenger Series schedule

LOS ANGELES, California / USA (Monday, December 18, 2023) - The World Surf League is today releasing the schedule for the 2024 Challenger Series, the battleground for surfers to fight for places in the elite Championship Tour (CT) . There will be six stages contested between the months of April and October, when the Corona Saquarema Pro presented by Banco do Brasil will close the list of 10 men and 5 women classified for the CT 2025 for the second consecutive year. The season starts in Australia and passes through South Africa, the United States, Portugal, until arriving in Brazil, to end the competition for places on October 12th to 20th at Praia de Itaúna, the Maracanã do Surf in the Lakes Region of Rio of January.

Just like this year, the 2024 Challenger Series calendar will begin with two back-to-back rounds in Australia, shortly after the CT mid-season elite cutoff in Margaret River. The access circuit will open again with two consecutive stages in Australia, the first in Snapper Rocks, on the Gold Coast, with the second in North Narrabeen, in Sydney.

The battle continues in July in Ballito, South Africa, followed by the US Open of Surfing in California in early August. Then, Portugal hosts the penultimate stage in September and the Corona Saquarema Pro presented by Banco do Brasil closes the list of 15 surfers who will complete the CT elite in 2025. Only the 4 best results achieved in the six 6 stages will be counted in the ranking.

WSL CHALLENGER SERIES 2024 SCHEDULE:

1.a- Apr 27-04 May - Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, Queensland - Australia

2.a- May 09-16 - North Narrabeen, Sydney, New South Wales - Australia

3.a- Jul 01-08 - Willard Beach, Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal - South Africa

4.a- Aug 03-11 - Huntington Beach, Orange County, California - United States

5.a- Sep 29-06 Oct - Ribeira D´Ilhas, Ericeira - Portugal

6.a- Oct 12-20 - Itaúna Beach, Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Just like the calendar, the number of participants in each stage will remain the same as in 2023, with 80 surfers in the men's category and 48 in the women's category. Furthermore, the CT tops who made the elite cut will have no obligation to compete in the Challenger Series, but can apply to receive invitations (wildcards) if they wish to participate in any stage. On the other hand, those who do not manage to be among the top-22 in the ranking of the first five stages of CT 2024, nor among the top-10, will automatically be qualified to try to recover their places in all stages of the Challenger Series.

“We have been using this Challenger Series format for 3 years now and it is great to see this competition solidifying its place in the WSL circuit structure,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, Head of Sports at the World Surf League. “48 surfers have earned their spots on the Championship Tour with their participation in the Challenger Series since 2021 and the 2024 season will see 15 more join the elite division of world surfing.”

The Challenger Series is the second most important competition in the three levels of the WSL circuit structure and the only way to reach the CT elite. In each of the six stages, there will be 80 men and 48 women competing, as per the list below:

- 12 men and 7 women from CT 2024 who didn't make the mid-season cut

- 10 men and 5 women who placed between 11th and 20th in the men's ranking and between 6th and 10th in the women's ranking

- 3 men and 2 women from CT 2023 who did not requalify for the CT or the Challenger Series

- 49 men and 30 women nominated by the regional rankings of the seven WSL offices (South America, North America, Hawaii/Tahiti, Europe, Australia/Oceania, Asia and Africa)

- the 2023 Junior world champion and champion

- 5 men and 3 women invited (wildcards) for each stage

LIVE STREAM - All stages of the 2024 Challenger Series will be broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com and on the WSL App and YouTube Channel.

ABOUT THE WORLD SURF LEAGUE: The World Surf League (WSL) promotes the main surfing competitions on the planet, crowning world champions since 1976, with the best surfers in the world performing on the best waves in the world. The WSL is comprised of a Circuits and Competitions division, which oversees and operates more than 180 global events each year; by WSL WaveCo, which produces the best high-performance artificial waves; and by WSL Studios, with independent content productions and scripted and non-scripted projects.

For more information, visit WorldSurfLeague.com.