Between this pair of youngsters, the dominance that has seen Carissa Moore, Stephanie Gilmore and Wright win every world title since 2006 may be under threat.

In the meantime, Picklum and compatriot Jack Robinson sit atop the surfing world after the West Australian also impressed with a semi-final showing.

Picklum has been touted as Australian surfing’s next big thing for a while now. Layne Beachley saw it in her years ago. Retired tennis great Ash Barty is a regular sounding board, as is Gilmore.

Picklum’s last few months though, after qualifying once more for the WCT, have seen a giddy rise to say the least.

Starting with a text message invitation to the Pipeline Masters in December, she duly beat five-time world champion Carissa Moore and became the first non-Hawaiian woman to claim the marquee event.

“The Hawaiians are incredible over here, they know every nook and cranny of the waves,” she said.

“It’s tough taking on the locals here and you’ve just got to back yourself. Getting the invite to the Pipe Masters, that was big because I wanted the preparation for this lot of contests.

“I’ve been lucky to spend time over here and you just kept chipping away, slowly building my confidence here in Hawaii.”

Picklum’s developing prowess in intimidating North Shore waters has mirrored her rise up the rankings. She’ll head to next month’s tour stop in Portugal sharing world No.1 billing with Moore. Still, those punchy Central Coast breaks are calling.

“I actually changed my flight in between my heats because I want to get home to see my family, I want to get home for as long as possible,” Picklum said, well aware of how far she’s come in less than a year.

“Looking back on being cut last year, it was tough for sure. But I’m so proud and so happy that I never got too down on myself either.

“I didn’t let it knock my confidence too much, I kept believing and I’m pretty proud of that.

“I’m proud of myself for just chipping away even though there’s so many setbacks, emotions and mind games in it all. Moments like these make it all worth it.”

Meanwhile, Robinson’s impressive start to the tour continued as he shored up his No.1 spot with a tense loss to eventual runner-up Griffin Colapinto.

Only a supreme pair of barrel rides by Colapinto denied Robinson passage to the final as they produced the best surfing of the competition in a tight 17.90 to 16.33 battle.

Reigning Brazilian world champion Filipe Toledo pipped Colapinto in the final, lifting him to second in the rankings behind Robinson.

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