Surf legend and newly elected ISA VP Sally Fitzgibbons reflects on her journey and the future of the sport

January comes as a fresh start to many people, be it New Year's Resolutions or setting goals, but for the surfers on the World Surf League Championship Tour, January means a brand new season. The WSL CT will kick off next week in Hawaii as 34 men and 17 women look to show the world what they bring to the competition while battling it out across the globe to be crowned the champion in September. This year the stops on tour look very different, as do the names of the competitors, but one staple still remains, and that staple is 16-year tour veteran, Sally Fitzgibbons.

Fitzgibbons sat down with Fansided to discuss her remarkable career, her new role as an ISA Vice President, and the evolving landscape of professional surfing. Nobody knows the ins and outs of competition surfing better than Fitzgibbons. She began her WSL CT career back in 2009 and has been a critical part of the landscape of women's surfing ever since. Now she is taking it into her own hands to change the sport she loves for the better as Vice President of the International Surfing Association.

"Surfing was my first job, and a job that I love so dearly," she said. "It's just always been ingrained in me, because I started as a little grom, a 13-year-old, you know, showing up to these events, and now, it's a sport in the Olympics, so, yeah, the long and short of it is, it's just exciting to see where that will go ... to help guide it and unite it."

Surfing as a competitive sport has grown so much over the past couple of decades. From the bright-colored fun-loving times of the 80s to the competitors of today pushing the limits of what people once thought was possible, Fitzgibbons has been there through the last 16 years and has navigated the water with grace. She is still one of the best surfers in the water today. Fitzgibbons knows that her longevity in the sport is rare and is grateful for the opportunities she has to continue to show up and thrive in the sport that she loves.

"It's exciting. There's been so much change," she explains. "Like all I've had to do is keep showing up to my process, and obviously have the surfing and the performances that are still relevant as we move through the generations. It's not a given that you can just show up with the same surfing and same athleticism and demand the results. So that's the unique thing, you truly are surprised when you can navigate it and click it all together and just have longevity in a sport that really is just rotating through the generations faster, then we can talk about them and get stories about them. So I'm just so thankful for the opportunity and the platform to still do the thing I love."

Sally Fitzgibbons will look to bring home her first WSL World Title this year

Fitzgibbons' passion for the sport is what is driving her these days. In the past two years alone, the WSL has seen many of the high-level athletes, that have been at the top of the sport for years, step away. Former champions Stephanie Gilmore, John John Florence, and Carissa Moore have all stepped back from the competition circuit this year. Fitzgibbons relishes the chance she gets to compete. From riding in a comp against a teenager to going head-to-head with the best on earth, Fitzgibbons shows up to win and to be a fan as well.

"And so I'm kind of in two mindsets, like when I'm competing, it's something that's so natural, I don't have to think about it," she said. "I just show off with, you know, all the things that represent my home, nation, and community and my team and myself, and when I'm just sitting there watching heats, I'm just this massive fan and just loving everything I'm seeing and seeing the new stories emerge, and just being a part of it. So I still have a lot of drive, and that's what this generation coming in has given me, is truly, the true desire, I have a lot of desire to be here. That's probably the only reason I'm still still here."

The 2025 season will be kicking things off in Hawaii at the famed Banzai Pipeline on Oahu. The competition window begins on Monday, Jan. 27. The comp will run during the best swell days of the window, and if the waves are anything like last year, the fans will be in for a treat. Fitzgibbons is ready to shred at Pipeline and kick off her quest to a World Title this year.

"There's just an enormous amount of swell today, it's just alive, the ocean's alive, " she said. "Just looking at it, just thinking, like, this is something that's so powerful and crazy to connect with. The first event of the year, it fully is a surprise packet, especially showing up to Pipeline. You know, I'm expecting fireworks for sure. And with the variable conditions, it's all about trying to fire away to that Finals Day, because you know that they're trying to line up the best of the conditions for that day. That's what happened last year. So, fingers crossed, we can emulate that with some really perfect Pipeline, and can't wait to have a go."

The Lexus Pipe Pro will take place between Jan. 27 and Feb. 8 in Oahu, Hawaii. Opening rounds will see heats of three with the winners moving on to the bracket stage later in the competition. Sally Fitzgibbons will begin the competition in Opening Heat 1 alongside Tatiana Weston-Webb and Luana Silva. Fans can check out all the action at WorldSurfLeague.com.