Sally Fitzgibbons's wish for the women's elite field in the World Surf League (WSL) to grow has come true, with the Championship Tour increasing in 2026.
Fitzgibbons, former world number one and winner of 12 WSL events in her career, has long championed expansion in the women's field.
This will happen starting in 2026, with the Championship Tour (CT) field growing from 18 surfers to 24 for each event.
Under the new format, events will include the top 14 surfers from the CT, the top seven qualifiers from the Challenger Series, two WSL seasonal wildcards, and one event wildcard.
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A decision is still to be made on whether the women's mid-season cut will remain at just 10, which it will be reduced to in 2025 after the seventh tour stop in the 11-event schedule.
It's still well short of the men's 36-strong field, but recognises the growing depth in women's surfing and continued improvement in skill level.
A 15-year tour veteran, Fitzgibbons missed the mid-season cut this year for a third straight year because she was ranked 13th when the axe came down.
"I couldn't be more proud of where the level of women's surfing is currently at," Fitzgibbons, a three-time world champion runner-up, said.
"Growing the tour is the next logical step in that natural progression.
"All over the world, women are stepping it up every time they hit the water, and on tour we're seeing intense heats and fierce rivalries.
"It's what everyone wants to see. I'm so stoked that it's happening."
Fitzgibbons recently told Surfer magazine there was a glut of talent and the smaller CT field made women appear as a "side piece" to the men's competition.
"It's a big logjam here on this (Challenger) series, there could be a winner of one of the six Challenger events, and they could still not qualify because the five spots is just so intense," she said.
"Let's get more women on tour and then when you're watching the product you can just have that even spread of days that you're watching men and women, instead of maybe one day of women and three days of men's surfing.
"It just sort of evens out the ledger a little bit and it looks like less of a side piece."
AAP/ABC