World no. 1 Roediger headlines stacked Fiji Surf Pro seeding draw

World no. 1 Roediger headlines stacked Fiji Surf Pro seeding draw © International Windsurfing Tour

The FIJI Surf Pro, a World Wave Tour 4-Star Challenger event, has drawn one of the deepest men's seeding brackets of the season, and with a powerful South Pacific groundswell forecast by Surfline to rank among the biggest Southern Hemisphere swells in a long time, the stage is set for a heavyweight clash at one of the heaviest waves on earth.

Five of the current world top six men are in the draw.

Reigning points leader and World No.1 Bernd Roediger(Hawaii/USA) leads the field, joined by No.3 Antoine Martin(Guadeloupe), No.4 Morgan Noireaux (Hawaii), No.5 Robby Swift (GBR) and No.6 Jaeger Stone (Australia). It is, on paper, a world title calibre line up - at a 4-Star event. That's the draw of Cloudbreak.

The R4 Seeding heats are where the contenders enter, and they're loaded:

Seeding Heat 1

World No.1 Bernd Roediger
Japan's Takuma Sugi (No.15)
2022 FIJI Surf Pro champion Camille Juban (FRA, No.21), a former winner who knows how to deliver at Cloudbreak.

Seeding Heat 2

Big-wave power heat: Robby Swift (No.5)
Germany's Julian Salmonn (No.20)
Australia's Jaeger Stone (No.6).

Seeding Heat 3

Antoine Martin (No.3)
Japan's Takara Ishii (No.15)
Hawaii's Russ Faurot (No.21)

Seeding Heat 4

Morgan Noireaux (No.4) a perennial big Cloudbreak standout
Italy's Federico Morisio (No.21)
2023 FIJI Surf Pro champion Baptiste Cloarec (FRA)

In every heat, the draw is completed by a Challenger graduate who will fight through Tuesday's qualifying - meaning the unseeded can ambush the elite from heat one.

The Women: Heritage meets a winner takes all final

The women's draw is small but carries real pedigree. Current World No. 6 Sarah Kenyon (Australia) and No. 11 Maria Andres (Spain) line up against 2022 FIJI Surf Pro champion Jane Seman (Australia, current No. 10) and Jessica Crisp— racing through qualifying into a single, winner-takes-all Final.

The forecast: Building to huge

Surfline's LOTUS model has Cloudbreak climbing every day of the window - 6-8ft Tuesday, 8-10ft Wednesday, peaking at 8-12ft (2x overhead) on Thursday's Finals Day - with clean offshore ESE trade winds. A near-perfect ramp to the climax.

The three-day broadcast

Day 1 - Qualifying
Tuesday 9 June 6-8ft Tuesday - The Challenger rounds fire up. Riders battle for the four golden tickets into the main seeding bracket. LIVE.

Day 2 - Seeding
Wednesday 10 June 8-10ft Wednesday - The big names enter. The R4 Seeding heats hit the water as the swell fills in. LIVE.

Day 3 - Finals Day
Thursday 11 June — peaking at 8-12ft (2x overhead) on Thursday's Finals Day

Peak swell. Redemption rounds, both Semifinals, and the Women's and Men's Finals - crowning the 2026 FIJI Surf Pro Champions in pumping Cloudbreak.

Live Broadcast on TV!

The full FIJI Surf Pro broadcast streams live right here at the WWT Hub.

Supported by FIJI Surf Co., FIJI Airways, FIJI Tourism, Corona, Tabanivono, Vodafone, FBC Sports, AquaSafe, Selah Fiji, and Bay View Cove.

Schedule update

Monday- June 8th:
Team SET-UP / FBC SCOUT to the tower - so I can arrange our boat transport what time do you expect to arrive? (Monday is also the lowest swell day so it the ideal day to transport and load the bigger gear)

TUESDAY, June 9th: QUALIFYING
GO LIVE: 3.30pm
3:30pm: Pre-show / Introduction
4:00pm - Heat 1 - Men Challengers
4:27pm Commercial break
4:30pm - Women's heat
4:57 - Commercial break
5:00pm - Men Top eight heat
5:27pm - Commercial break
5:30pm - 5:45pm - final thoughts
5:45pm - OFF AIR

WEDNESDAY - June 10th SEEDING
GO LIVE: 12pm
12pm - 12:30pm - Pre Show
12:30pm - 5:00pm Running heats x9 heats @ 27min w/ - 3minute break between heats w/ 1 minute of COMMERCIAL time
5:00pm - 5:30pm - final thoughts - show close
5:30pm - Off Air

THURSDAY - June 11th: FINALS DAY
GO LIVE: 12pm
12pm - 12:30pm - Pre Show
12:30pm - 5:00pm Running heats x9 heats @ 27min w/ - 3minute break between heats w/ 1 minute of COMMERCIAL time
5:00pm - 5:30pm - final thoughts - show close
5:30pm - Off Air