Newcastle Confirms the Surfers Qualified for the 2026 WSL Championship Tour
- Karina Rubilar
- Mar 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 16
The World Surf League Challenger Series season has come to an end at the historic Bioglan Newcastle SURFEST, where the surfers who will advance to the World Surf League Championship Tour for the 2026 season were officially confirmed.
The event, presented by Bonsoy and celebrating its 40th anniversary at Merewether Beach, closed the circuit with strong performances and the confirmation of the names that will be part of the new ranking among surfing’s elite.
Among the qualifiers are names such as Olympic champion Kauli Vaast, Hawaiian surfer Eli Hanneman, as well as surfers who have previously competed at the highest level, including Morgan Cibilic, Samuel Pupo, and Callum Robson.
CT 2026 Qualifiers – Men
Kauli Vaast
Eli Hanneman
Morgan Cibilic
George Pittar
Samuel Pupo
Callum Robson
Luke Thompson
Oscar Berry
Mateus Herdy
Liam O'Brien
Zebrowski leads the new women’s qualifiers
In the women’s division, young French surfer Tya Zebrowski emerged as the standout of the season, claiming the Challenger Series title.
Alongside her, several surfers secured their spots on the 2026 Championship Tour after an intense season on the circuit.
CT 2026 Qualifiers – Women
Tya Zebrowski
Yolanda Hopkins
Sally Fitzgibbons
Alyssa Spencer
Francisca Veselko
Nadia Erostarbe
Anat Lelior
Spencer and Reginato claim victory in Newcastle
The final event of the circuit also saw Alyssa Spencer and Australian surfer Alister Reginato take the event wins at the Bioglan Newcastle SURFEST.
Spencer completed a remarkable Challenger Series campaign with victories across multiple continents, earning her third win on the circuit and becoming the second American surfer to win SURFEST, following former world champion Frieda Zamba.
Meanwhile, Reginato achieved the biggest win of his career after defeating Kauli Vaast, the 2026 Challenger Series champion, in the final.
The CT 2026 heads next to Bells Beach with a new format
With the Challenger Series now complete, the World Surf League calendar shifts its focus to the next stop of the tour.
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be the next major stage of the world tour, running from April 1 to April 11 at one of surfing’s most historic venues.
The 2026 season will also introduce some changes to the competition format. According to the WSL, the tour will no longer include non-elimination rounds and will implement an updated seeding system, where the top five surfers from the Challenger Series will enter the tour among the highest-ranked positions in the draw.
The calendar will feature nine initial stops, which will determine which surfers advance to stops 10 and 11, where the field will be reduced to a smaller group of competitors still in contention for the world title.
The season will once again conclude at the Pipe Masters, where all qualified surfers will return to Banzai Pipeline to crown the 2026 world surfing champions.
Comments