Vahine Fierro showered in the quarter-finals of the Tahiti Pro in Teahupo'o, Kelia Gallina out in the repechage

After an opening day on Thursday entirely devoted to the men (round 1 and repechages), it was the women's turn to put on a show this Friday at the Tahiti Pro, with beautiful waves breaking at Teahupo'o under a blazing sun. All the heats of the women's draw have been launched, except for the final, which will bring together the American 2024 world champion Caitlin Simmers and the current Australian world number one Molly Picklum.

It was precisely the latter that prematurely ended Vahine Fierro's adventure in the quarterfinals. The surfer from Huahine, who was the defending champion, had the ambition to repeat her performance of May 2024. She started the day with a 2nd place in her heat of three in round 1 (total of 11.66), beaten by Tyler Wright (12.76). In the repechage round, she came out ahead by outclassing the Australian Isabella Nichols (16.67 - 9.17) thanks to two tubes of which she has the secret (8.50 and 8.17).

But in the quarterfinals, Fierro fell victim to a yellow-suited Picklum, who perfectly turned the tide. While leading with three minutes to go thanks to a 4 and a 5.67, the Polynesian was doused by an Australian who found a huge tube, scoring 9.77. The best wave of the first two days of competition. A terrible disappointment for Fierro.

The other attraction of the day was the very young Kelia Gallina. At only 12 years old (she turns 13 on Sunday), the surfer from Teahupoo did all she could, but her lack of strength—especially in her arms for paddling—and experience competing against the world's best was detrimental to her.

Coached by her father Ryan, who was in the lineup with her as a caddy, she applied the placement advice given to the best of her ability. During the first round, she took two small tubes (1.03 and 2.40) while Molly Picklum rolled (8.83 and 8.07). In the repechage, the "Miss Teahupoo" surfed without any complexes against the Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan. Encouraged by her father and the crowd on the boats to catch the slightest wave, Gallina tried what she could on an ocean that was not easy for her (3.90 against 8.33 for Bryan).

Kelia Gallina was eliminated in the repechage. (David Michel/L'Equipe)

“It was great to participate in this competition,” Kelia Gallina told us as soon as her series was over. “But the waves were a bit big for me. The positioning wasn’t easy, but the hardest thing for me was that you had to have the courage to go out on these waves. I sometimes needed big scores, and for that, I had to go for the big ones. I told myself I had to go for it, but it wasn’t easy to do. I’m happy with the support and encouragement. I approached this competition without too much pressure. I’ll do better next time.”