Picklum leads the world at Sunset Beach Hawaii

SURFING

Central Coast surfing star Molly Picklum, 20, of Terrigal has taken out her first-ever Championship Tour win at Sunset Beach Hawaii, beating arch-rival Caroline Marks to go to the top of the world rankings heading into the third CT round in Europe.

Picklum qualified for the World Surf Leages’s Championship Tour last November after just falling short the season before.

Picklum’s performance at the Hurley CT Pro event has surprised surfing commentators and fans around the world, most of whom expected the more experienced female world surfers to dominate the Championship this year.

“I was pretty baffled; it was pretty slow and then big firie waves at the end,” she said after the event.

“I’ve got so much water up my nose I can’t even like see straight.

“I’m super stoked to have taken this event out; it is so challenging. Yeah, I’m just stoked.”

Picklum previously took out a 5th position at the Billabong Pro Pipeline event in Hawaii in January.

She now heads off to the third round of the Championship Tour at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, held in Peniche, Leiria, on Portugal’s central Atlantic coast.

David Abrahams

with the recently formed Hunter Central Coast AFL and cater for junior boys and girls and seniors, both men and women.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of female players of all ages over the past few years, which has been outstanding but with that comes an increased investment in gear and facilities,” he said.

“While we’ve upgraded our women’s changerooms, this funding from Greater Bank will help to ensure we have the right mix of training equipment to cater for the influx of female players.”

Greater Bank’s Central Coast Regional Sales Manager, Josh Swetnam, said sporting clubs played a vital role in the community.

“It’s great to see sporting activities really getting back to normal after the disruptions of the past couple of years,” he said.

“We love our sport at Greater Bank so we are delighted to be able to help local clubs like the Bombers through the #GreaterCentralCoast Community Funding Program, especially to make sure their women and girls have the gear they need to succeed.

“We have another $3,000 on offer for February, with Doggie Dates NSW Ltd, The Nappy Collective and Central Coast Twist Mardi Gras Float in the running, so I’d like to wish all our nominees the best of luck,” Swetnam said.

The public online vote is now open at www.greater.com.au/ greatercentralcoast until 5pm Wednesday March 1.