The 2020-21 World Surf League was the 44th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, limiting international travel between and within countries namely

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The championships took a break for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The board changed the tour to a wraparound season of 2020-21, which allowed major changes to the tour schedule, with the Billabong Pipe Masters becoming the first round of the tour. The season also saw some new events introduced due to COVID-19 outbreaks and restrictions on travel within countries, notably

, who required surfers to quarantine in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for 14 days upon arrival. Narrabeen was chosen as a replacement for the Gold Coast, while Newcastle returned to the tour for the first time in 10 years to replace Bells Beach. The women's championship tour will compete in Teahupo'o, French Polynesia for the first time in 15 years, while Mexico was added to the championship for the first time to replace the round left vacant by

Jeffrey's Bay Jeffreys Bay (, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due to the right-han ...

, due to the COVID outbreak in South Africa. For the first time, the season will end at Lower Trestles, in San Clemente, USA, with the top five seeded men and women from the season going head to head to determine the champion at the WSL Finals. This was put in place after the positive response to the men's championship event in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, as well as allowing surfers who had to isolate with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

an opportunity to still win the title. Carissa Moore and

Ítalo Ferreira Ítalo Ferreira da Costa (born 6 May 1994) is a Brazilian professional surfer hailing from a small community of Baía Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Early life Ferreira learned to surf on a three-foot-lo ...

were the defending champions.

Schedule

The championship series will consist of the following events, subject to change due to the

Results and Standings

Event Results

Men's Standings

Points are awarded using the following structure:

Women's Standings

Points are awarded using the following structure:

Challenger Series

2021 Men's Challenger Series

Legend Note: The top 12, non-CT men from the 2021 Challengers Series qualified for the 2022 Championship Tour. Source
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2021 Women's Challengers Series

Legend Note: The top 6, non-CT women from the 2021 Challengers Series qualified for the 2022 Championship Tour. * Luana Silva wins the tiebreaker (best two event results) over Molly Picklum for the sixth and final CT qualification spot.

References

External links

* {{ASP World Tour World Surf League

World Surf League The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfing, surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The WSL was originally known as International Professional Surfing ( ...