On a day of perfect waves between August 9 and 17, the WSL world champions will be decided at Lower Trestles, California.

The top five ranked men and women will compete and for the first time in history the WSL world champion will be determined in one day and at one event and not as a result of a ranking.

The format of the competition is as follows:

With the men's ranking defined as follows:
1st: Gabriel Medina 48145
2nd: Italo Ferreira 35060
3rd: Filipe Toledo 32065
4th: Conner Coffin 26685
5th: Morgan Cibilic 26600

The series are as follows:
Series 1: Morgan Cibilic vs Conner Coffin
Series 2: The winner of series 1 vs Filipe Toledo
Series 3: The winner of series 2 vs Italo Ferreira
Series 4, final: The winner of series 3 vs Gabriel Medina (this matchup is the best of three series).

Whoever wins series 4 will be the world champion.

On the ladies' side, the ranking was as follows:
1st: Carissa Moore 37700
2nd: Tatiana Weston-Webb 34715
3rd: Sally Fitzgibbons 33000
4th: Johanne Defay 32035
4th: Stephanie Gilmore 32035

The series are as follows:
Series 1: Johanne Defay vs Stephanie Gilmore
Series 2: Series 1 winner vs Sally Fitzgibbons
Heat 3: Heat 2 Winner vs Tatiana Weston-Webb
Series 4: Series 3 Winner vs Carissa Moore (This matchup is a best of three series)

Whoever wins series 4 will be the world champion.