Santa Monica Surfer Luca Vuillermet Secured Fifth Place
The 17-year-old athlete earned a second-place finish at the GWA World Cup to climb into the season top five.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Surfing
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Santa Monica resident Luca Vuillermet finished second at the GWA World Cup in Fuerteventura to secure fifth place in the 2026 GWA World Tour standings. The 17-year-old athlete successfully landed a 1440 trick in the final, consisting of four rotations in the air.
Why it matters
Vuillermet needed this specific podium performance to move up the leaderboard and finish the season in the top five of the professional tour. His consistent results throughout the year, including a third-place finish in Leucate, France, bolstered his standing among global competitors.
Vuillermet landed a 1440 rotation trick in the final. This performance helped him secure fifth place in the 2026 GWA World Tour out of 28 top riders competing on the circuit.
The players
Luca Vuillermet
He is a 17-year-old professional surfer from Santa Monica who previously held youth world championship titles.
Global Wingsports Association
This is the international governing body that organizes the professional surf-slalom and freestyle tour events.
The details
The 17-year-old surfer relies on intense training at Flip First Gymnastics, where he practices rotations on a trampoline to prepare for aerial maneuvers. He performed his 1440 trick during the final heat, marking a significant technical highlight in his campaign to reach the tour's top rankings.
Timeline
Vuillermet won U14 and U16 world titles in 2022 and 2024.
He placed third at the Leucate event in the 2026 season.
The Fuerteventura World Cup podium finish occurred in September 2026.
The athlete plans to graduate from high school and compete in 2027.
The Big Picture
Vuillermet's progression reflects the increasingly competitive nature of the GWA World Tour standings, which serve as the premier professional benchmark for global wing-surfing talent. His rise signals a significant shift as young athletes transition from youth titles to elite-level podium finishes.
Vuillermet's top-five finish solidifies his trajectory for the next professional season. This placement ensures his continued entry into major heat rotations where he will face the top 28 riders in the sport.
The takeaway
Consistent aerial mastery, such as landing a 1440, is becoming a prerequisite for competing at the highest levels of professional surf-slalom. Ambitious athletes can emulate this by utilizing cross-training tools like trampolines to perfect rotational muscle memory in a controlled environment.
What happens next
Luca Vuillermet is scheduled to continue his professional career during the 2027 GWA Pro Tour.
Further reading
For more on the latest trends in the sport, explore Surfing.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Santa Monica Daily Press.
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