(2022 World Surf League)
The heat is on like never before at the Margaret River Pro.
From 24 April to 4 May, the world's best surfers will compete to keep their 2022 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) season alive with 12 men and six women eliminated at the end of the competition in Western Australia.
This comes as part of the WSL's new mid-season cut policy. At the conclusion of Margaret River Pro, round five of 2022, only the top 22 men and 10 women will be guaranteed entry to the second half of the campaign as well as automatic berths in next year's CT.
Two men and two women will be added as wildcards (one for the season, one for each event) with the WSL believing smaller fields will create more exciting action and greater opportunity for matchups between surfing's biggest names.
Athletes who fail to make the cut will be relegated to the second-tier Challenger Series which starts immediately after the Margaret River Pro. Strong showings could see them return to the CT for 2023.
Brazil's Filipe Toledo defends his title at Margaret River after taking victory at Bells Beach last weekend.
That win returned him to the number one ranking ahead of Kanoa Igarashi, John John Florence and Kelly Slater.
Rounding out the top five is Hawaiian 22-year-old Barron Mamiya who has made the most of injury replacement opportunities and won round two in Sunset Beach.
Olympic champion Italo Ferreira was furious after a controversial quarter-final defeat to home surfer Jack Robinson at Bells Beach, and will be hoping for better luck this week.
On the women's side, Olympic champion Carissa Moore will be wearing the number one jersey after two second-place finishes this season.
Australia's Tyler Wright will hope to back up her victory at Bells Beach where she rang the bell alongside Toledo. The two-time world champion is currently ranked joint-second equal with Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy.
Last year's winner Tatiana Weston-Webb is currently sitting in sixth overall, but should not be underestimated.
Some big names - including Sally Fitzgibbons and Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright - are in danger of missing the mid-season cut and need big results at Margaret River.
Eight-time women's world champion Stephanie Gilmore is just inside the cut line but needs to perform well to make it through.
Gabriel Medina and Caroline Marks are among the stars missing through injury with replacement surfers to be named closer to the event start.
Thirteen men have guaranteed their places in the second half of the CT season with nine more places to be determined after the Margaret River Pro.
Just four athletes have made the mid-season cut in the women's CT with six more spots up for grabs at Margaret River Pro
Here's what the remainder of the 2022 WSL Championship Tour schedule looks like.
Mid-Season Cut: 36-man fields reduced to 24 - 18-woman fields reduced to 12.
WSL Finals - Top five ranked surfers will compete on one day for the 2022 men’s and women’s world titles.
Here's what the 2022 WSL Challenger Series schedule looks like.