The story of the day at the Roxy Pro was Tyler Wright’s journey to the podium, both figuratively – as she surfed her way undefeated through the event to be awarded first place – and literally – as she was chaired up the beach by her two brothers.
She had to confront three of the tour’s fiercest competitors to take the win, including Steph Gilmore, Carissa Moore and Courtney Conlogue. Working with new coach-of-the-moment, Glenn ‘Micro’ Hall, she seemed more focussed than ever to start the year off with a bang. She showed characteristic precision and flare throughout, and while Conlogue put up a good fight in the final, Wright’s beautifully orchestrated lines were no match for the Californian.
Tyler attributed her clear headedness to the sobering experience of watching her brother Owen go through the trauma of a head injury. She hadn’t expected her oldest brother’s presence at the event, with his path to recovery still very much underway. At the close of the final however, Tyler was chaired up the beach to the podium on the shoulders of her two brothers Mikey and Tim Wright. Then she looked up.
“I was on my brother’s shoulders and they whispered to me, ‘Hey look up the top there’ It was Owen… and he’s so not meant to be here but he was like, ‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world’… To be honest I think the reason I was able to do what I did here was through the last couple of months of experience. It’s made everything so simple and so clear.”
Tyler’s relaxed and cheery outlook has been a constant on tour since her rookie year in 2011. But about half way through last year we saw something shift in her; she seemed more determined, more serious about the tour and her ambitions as a pro surfer. That strong mindset came through more than ever today, as a mature and thoughtful Tyler Wright spoke about the hardship of the last few months and the way those experiences have manifested in her surfing.
It was all yewing, wooing and yahooing on the podium as two of the most down-to-earth surfers on tour, Tyler and Wilko drenched one another in beer in whole-hearted celebration of a job well done. On ya legends!
Roxy Pro Gold Coast Final Results:
1 –
Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.67
2 – Courtney Conlogue (USA) 10.94
Roxy Pro Gold Coast Semifinal Results:
SF 1:
Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.17 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.00
SF 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 15.27 def. Johanne Defay (FRA)10.50
Jeep WSL Women’s Leaderboard (after Roxy Pro Gold Coast):
1. Tyler Wright (AUS) 10,000 pts
2. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 8,000 pts
3. Carissa Moore (HAW) 6,500 pts
4. Johanne Defay (FRA) 6,500 pts
A huge thanks to Isuzu for providing the Tracks team with vehicles for the 2016 Quiksiliver Pro Gold Coast.
