Surfing's World Champion (Plus 7 More CT Surfers) Are Locked Into Pipeline's Challenger Series Contest

Ballito, Huntington Beach, Saquarema, Ericiera, Pipeline and Newcastle (2x). It isn’t hard to spot the odd one out. In a tour that is primarily beachbreaks, this month’s Challenger Series event at the world’s most famous reef should look entirely different from the other seven events on the docket. 

Hopefully, the sand that plagued the 2026 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout moves off the reef in the coming days. The Lexus Pipe Challenger’s waiting period is from January 29 to February 9. The usual field will be in place, with rankings leader Eli Hanneman coming off a high-flying act to win the Florence Pipe Pro QS 2,000. None of the men have clinched a spot on the 2026 CT thus far, but Eli is basically a lock. On the women’s side, two of the seven qualifying spots are secured by Tya Zebrowski and Yolanda Hopkins. 

Most of the CS field (who aren't former Championship Tour surfers) have had little to no experience at proper Pipeline. If figuring out the wave wasn't hard enough, now they’ll have to contend with eight CT regulars who’ve put their name down for this event. Some may see it as an excuse to surf the wave empty or sharpen their competitive toolkit before the season starts in three months. Either way, it's a challenge for the Challengers. 

Headlining the draw is the reigning 2025 world champ, Molly Picklum, who finished second in the event two seasons ago. She’s coming off the year of her life and always seems to relish North Shore power. Her backhand barrel riding is second to none, as reinforced by her convincing Teahupo'o win. She'll be a threat no matter the conditions.

The other CT women in the mix are Gabriela Bryan (second place at the 2025 Florence Pipe Pro), 2025 Rookie of the Year Erin Brooks, 2024 WSL World Junior Champion Luana Silva, and CT mainstay Isabella Nichols. 

The CT men are in the mix, all capable of winning the whole thing: Back-to-back CT Pipe Pro victor Barron Mamiya, last year’s Pipe runner-up Leonardo Fioravanti, and recent World Title contender Griffin Colapinto. While we’ve seen the former two get keeper results at Pipeline, Griffin hasn't had the success there in heats you might expect. He's finished equal 17th in four out of the past five years. His best finish was a semifinal in 2019. But considering how well he does in the freesurfers, how well he did at the Teahupo'o CT in 2025 and his stupifying barrels at Cloudbreak the year prior (watch it in Feels Like Yesterday), it feels like a breakthrough is coming for Griffin at Pipeline.

Another surfer who I'd expect to stand out is Erin Brooks. The Rookie of the Year has been on fire on the North Shore as of late. Even at just 18, she's one of the more experienced Pipeline surfers among this CS draw. She's surfed Pipeline in a CT event once (equal 9th), and won the 2024 Vans Pipe Masters after packing one of the heaviest closeouts all event in the final. She has all the talent, and there's no better place to put it all together than Pipe.