World Champ Chat With Molly Picklum

The thing that strikes me the most about Molly Picklum is her grounded nature, followed closely by her thick occy accent.

A competitive force of nature who is so obviously in her own lane. There isn’t a part of her that is doing anything for show - she’s simply doing Molly. It just so happens she’s pretty fucking good at it. Claiming her first world title at the end of last year, Molly is the true definition of a modern professional athlete. Locked in and obsessed with pushing herself as far as she can. It’s how she landed on the Red Bull surf team and became an integral part of the generation of female surf talent that is taking the sport higher than it’s ever been. A team that has been captured in Now Days, one of the most impressive surf films I have personally seen in long time. But before you get to see that, get to know Molly a little better. Someone we should all be proud to call the world champ.

I’m going to get into this because I know you’ve been a bit crook and are in comp mode for Margs. But first up. Fucking amazing film by the way. I loved it so much.

Where did you get to watch it?

Oh I got a little sneaky screener link but so keen to see it on the big screen with a crowd for the prem. 

Sick. It’s pretty epic. You would have felt the impact it had by watching it. They’ve done an incredible job. 

Yeah nailed it. 

Well, that's sick to hear.

I feel like they all showed your personalities really well which is kind of hard to do in a forty minute film. Anyway let’s get into this. First up - are you competitive at absolutely everything you do? 

Uhhuh. Yeah (laughs). I love games. I love playing with people and I’ve just always wanted to win when I’ve been playing a game. 

I back that. So competitive by nature but are there any routines or things you do to get into competition mode? 

I think a lot of it naturally unfolds for me in the competition setting. You know, like putting on a rashi, being around the competition sounds with the hooters. That all just naturally switches me on. My instincts just know when it’s time where there’s a place or a space to win. 

That is sick. 

I don’t know if they put this in the credits of the version you watched from that film but there’s this part where Sierra and I are playing ping pong. That’s a perfect example because it’s just a game of ping pong but my instincts were like this is a good game, let’s go, I want to win. Instantly. 

I did see that yeah. And Sierra’s biggest fear was getting into a bikini. Mad respect. 

(Laughs) It’s so good. 

I love that so much. What is the wildest place surfing has taken you?

Oh, what a great question. I honestly think it was early days going to China. Obviously all the places have been great but that was probably the most random. But yeah China was wild because I had only just started to do as much travel. Now the places I go to are a bit more fathomable because I’ve been there a few times, you know. But yeah surfing has taken me to so many places I never would have imagined. 

Wait, what did you go to China for? 

It was for a qualifying series event through the WSL back in the day.

True. That is random. 

I just ate broccoli and rice for two weeks straight because I was so scared.

Yeah (laughs), fair enough. The Red Bull women surf team is pretty elite. A couple world titles and gold medals between you all. Can you give some insight into what it's like being in this particular generation of surfers because I feel like you’re all pretty close in calibre.

It's pretty cool. You know, I think because we're in the same calibre of surfing it has bought us a lot closer. When there’s one leader who takes off and runs away, maybe they don’t connect with the rest of the pack but we’re forced to connect with each other because at the end of the day we're rubbing shoulders so much. There's just that element right when someone is so good and above the rest of their field that they kind of just don't have to be humbled and can just do whatever they want. But I think all of us have accepted that we’re going to get beaten, which just forces you to respect the other talent. It's a humbling experience and I think it's really connected us as a group. Which is why this film is so special. To have this team of females - I don’t think another film has been able to capture that. 

Absolutely. I completely agree. 

Like you'll see how we all roll in together. I'm sure of other films where people have their own parts they come in with their own little entourage whereas we’re already all together hanging. 

That's so special. Is there an area of surfing that you would like to explore more of outside of the tour?

Like in my actual surfing or like location wise? 

Nah in your actual surfing.

I would just love to do more of everything. Get more barrels. Sharpen my repertoire as is. I’d love a bit more precision in my surfing. 

And how does a gold medal compare to a world tour in your eyes? 

Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask because I haven't done both.

Do you think of them on the same level?

Caroline would say the gold medal and I daresay if I went and achieved that too then I think I would go back to thinking of them as neutral so I guess it just depends who you ask. I think as a surfer though, with all the heritage that comes with WSL and being a world champ - the world title is always going to be something we each hold close to our hearts. I think a world title holds a bit more magnitude in our industry. If you’re going to listen to society’s verifications and validations then obviously the Olympics is a huge tick. 

For sure. I feel like that’s a shared sentiment between most surfers. The tour is the ticket because a gold medal has only just become a reality to achieve in the last six years or whatever it has been since the sport was introduced. 

Yeah I think to be completely honest the gold medal is more about the career trajectory it gives you to the wider sport world but I think the WSL is where the heart of the comps is for the surfers. 

Women’s surfing, actually women’s sport in general, has seen some amazing positive changes over the last five or so years in particular. Obviously though there is still a lot of room for improvement. As a pro athlete, what is an area that you can still see is not quite where it needs to be yet? Like if you could go to the big dogs and lay it out for them - what are you saying to them? 

Maybe to figure out how to best showcase the skills women actually have within their category of sport. Sometimes I think some of the set ups don’t quite suit the female skillset. So instead of it being a direct comparison between men and women, create an entirely new game. We talk a lot about closing the gap between men and women in terms of finances and viewership, but it’s still on the same playing field in terms of how it’s scored and all that. I’m someone that believes that there is truly scientific difference between men and women in terms of power, speed and you know just the physical abilities and it’s hard that the competitions are still comparing us exactly the same to the men even when we don't have the same bodies. 

Respect. Do you realise you are now the person, wait this is kind of a heavy question. 

Oh shit. 

No, sorry not heavy, just as in the weight of expectation is heavy. Hold on, let me start again. Do you realise you are now the person that the younger generations aspire to be like? And do you take stock of the pressure and expectation that comes with that? 

See that’s not a heavy question because to me the pressure and expectation isn’t heavy because I am just doing me. I understand it in the sense that I know what it was like to look up to Steph. But yeah I think being that person for the next generation is unfolding as my life unfolds. I’m not actively choosing to be the inspiration but I think it’s just a really positive and motivating byproduct of what I'm doing. In certain situations I am conscious of how I present myself and what I say but honestly I’m just unapologetically myself. 

Maybe not a heavy question, but I just feel maybe the pressure is heavy.

No, I think for sure it can be a heavy question, but I think for me it's not because I’m just doing me. 

So good. Outside of surfing, I know you play a fair bit of golf, but what are some other things that bring you joy?

Something I have been loving lately is pickleball. 

Oh yeah, that's having such a moment.

Yeah I love it because you can be competitive at it quite early on whereas like golf and tennis you gotta be an absolute legend at it to even be competitive. Maybe I’m just playing the wrong people but with pickleball you can play whoever and it’s a game, you know. 

Yeah I get that. 

I just love being outdoors and doing shit. I’m a busy body. I feel like this time in my life is very young twenties and because I don't party I think doing all the activities is where I am still really excited. 

Do you party at all or have you always been in athlete mode? 

Nah I think honestly early on I was lucky that surfing kept me accountable. I just grew up with getting up with the sun and being outside all day and coming home when it’s dark you know. That just instilled that wanting to make the most of the day and I think I’ve always been able to squeeze as much goodness into daylight hours that I’ve never really cared about what happens after. 

Yeah respect. 

A lot of people took the piss out of being saying I don’t know how to have a good time because I don’t party and I think early on I took that to heart thinking that because I have fun another way I didn’t know how to have fun but I’ve realised now I still for sure do, I’m just dipping at 9pm to go to sleep. 

We love sleep. And what are you most proud of? 

I mean achievement wise, it blows my mind what I've achieved and I think it's funny in one way I feel like I've overachieved. I always felt like I could work hard at something and be good, and that’s what’s happened. So I’m really content and grateful to that because so much of surfing is out of your control. But I think the biggest thing I'm proud of is now the wavelength I sit on to be able to put my best foot forward as a human, as a friend, but then also for myself.

Well you’re doing a great job at that. 

We will see. 

Now Days is available worldwide from May 1, watch it on Red Bull TV and Red Bull Surf’s Youtube Channel.