Molly Picklum reveals she spent 10 weeks out of the surf with a broken foot before start of new World Surf League season

Australian surf star Molly Picklum revealed she spent 10 weeks off her board in the off-season after breaking her foot in Indonesia but is adamant she’s ready for this weekend’s season-opening event in Hawaii where she returns to the scene of her historic perfect 10. After rehabbing her injury, Picklum, 22, who starts 2025 ranked fifth after making the one-day finals last year, only got back into the surf less than three weeks ago but is confident her foot is “100 per cent”, although her goal is to win the world title, not just be “ready for Pipe”. “I was in Indonesia, I was in a barrel and my foot got compressed on the board and unfortunately fractured one of my metatarsals and a slight strain of the lisfranc, which was quite fortunate I didn’t do too bad because that can be months out,” Picklum said from Hawaii. “I was out for 10 weeks, which was a difference for me in that I’m used to going surfing, training, but I got to see life from a different lens and it was really rejuvenating and gave me the energy I need for this year. “I’ve been carefully loading my foot up, mindful that I have a whole season and the goal is to win the world title at the end of the year, not Pipe. Well, the goal is to win Pipe, but I want to make sure I have a full year of effort in me. “Now it’s at a place where it’s 100 per cent. I’ve been out there, I can get barrelled, and I’ve had a couple of nice rides since I’ve been here. I feel confident for sure. “I’m pretty grateful that injury happened in the off-season and not while I’m competing.” Picklum is the highest ranked of the four Australians in the top-18, a figure that could have been five before eight-time world champion Steph Gilmore opted out of returning to the tour, having also skipped 2024. But Picklum, who has spent time with Gilmore, thinks the 36-year-old could be back in 2026, suggesting she got “skunked” – missed good waves – as she toured the world last year and wanted to try again before returning to competition. Picklum made history last year with her perfect 10 at Pipeline but ultimately was runner-up in the event that still holds a fear factor for all surfers, with the huge waves in Oahu breaking in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef. But that dangerous aspect helps Picklum narrow her focus and get out of her “comfort zone”. “There’s something so beautiful about it, and it’s had some career highlights for me, some magical moments, then there’s the death-defying side,” she said. “The best things happen outside of your comfort zone and I think Pipeline is a true representation of that.” Having worn the yellow jersey as the No. 1 ranked surfer over the past two years, without netting a world title, Picklum said she’d draw on all her experiences across her still brief career so far to make the ultimate push. “I feel like every single year you learn something new to ad to your approach, that’s the whole reason you get called a rookie at the start because there are so many things you have to learn and prepare for and you take on that you don’t realise,” she said. “Each year you are tinkering and getting better and better, freeing that space to have the energy to surf hard and surf strong. “I dipped down through that mid part of the year last year and it’s hard going really far away from home, Brazil, El Salvador. “For me it’s about making sure I get a consistent effort, breaking it up into bite-sized chunks that I can digest and make sure I have the energy for every step of the way and then the peak moment at the end of the year.”