The French surfer won the sixth round of the world championship! Following her victory in Portugal, the Private Sport Shop ambassador moved up to second place in the overall standings.
And that's six! Johanne Defay was perfect on Saturday to claim the sixth World Surfing Championship victory of her career. In Portugal, in light conditions, the French surfer mastered her semi-final and final to claim her first win in two years (her last victory came at the Roxy Pro G-Land in 2022). Qualifying for the last four for the first time this season (this event in Portugal was her third of the year), the Private Sport Shop ambassador showed no mercy against her rival, American Lakey Peterson, to secure her place in the final.
And in the final duel of the week, the 30-year-old surfer was patient, catching the right waves at the right time to win her head-to-head with Australia's Tyler Wright (double world champion in 2016 and 2017). The Frenchwoman was at ease in these small waves, and Johanne moved up to second place in the overall standings behind Molly Picklum (18,630 points to the Australian's 20,410).
"It's crazy," she explained as she left the water. "The waves changed and the swell came in, I think we both had similar strategies and maybe we both had boards that were a bit small for those waves. I concentrated on the lefts and was looking for two turns, but in the end one was enough. Last year was both fun and weird," added Defay. "I really enjoyed my time at home, even though I was injured. It was kind of a break that I deserved too. Coming back on the CT I struggled to get back into performance immediately, but I worked hard and just wanted to show that my injury hadn't put me completely out of the game."
While we're waiting for Johanne's Vlog on this victory in Portugal, here's her video on the ISA World Championship held in Puerto Rico, where Equipe de France finished runner-up and Johanne secured another fine place.
Johanne Defay's six world championship victories:
2024: MEO Rip Curl Pro (Portugal)
2022: Roxy Pro G-Land (Indonesia)
2021 : Surf Ranch Pro (United States)
2018: Uluwatu CT (Indonesia)
2016: Fiji Women's Pro (Fiji)
2015 : Vans US Open of Surfing (United States)
