As I write this column, the day before the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach waiting period begins, the swell forecast doesn’t look that flash, at least for the rest of this week, but the sentimental side of me hopes that Huey, the god of surf, relents and decides to throw out a couple of days of glassy double-overhead bombs, saying, “These are for you, Big Owen.”
Owen Wright’s announcement of his retirement from professional surfing on social media on 21 March wasn’t entirely unexpected.
The WSL had more or less made the decision for him in the middle of last year when the big goofy-footer failed to make the mid-season cut.
Then 32, Owen still had the ability to fight back onto the Championship Tour through the Challenger Series, no one doubted that, but after more than seven years already spent fighting back from a potentially career-ending brain injury sustained at Pipeline, did he have the will.
Well, he gave it a crack, but given the limitations imposed on him by his medical team, if he wanted to watch his children grow up, the chances of reaching the highest level again and staying there were slim and getting slimmer.
The elegantly powerful Olympic bronze medallist (Tokyo 2021) and multiple record-breaker eloquently explained his decision and what lay behind it: “After my traumatic brain injury in 2015, my desire to prove to myself and the world that I could still be great and overcome this life-threatening incident inspired my recovery.
“Now eight years later, after challenges and accomplishments, I can look back happily, knowing I achieved that goal. Today, I am sharing the news that I will retire from competing at the highest level of surfing.
“Given my recent history with head injuries and concussions, competing at some of the heaviest waves on the planet is no longer in the best interest of my long-term health. I excelled in these conditions over my career, but the risks associated with this type of surfing are too significant for someone in my position, given my medical history.
“I will not retire from surfing altogether – just from surfing heavy waves. I hope to keep surfing for the rest of my life. I love surfing and thank the sport for everything I have. I hope that in this new chapter of my life, I can help be a voice for brain health and an advocate for athletes across all sports who have suffered TBIs and concussions throughout their careers.”
After a spectacular junior career, Owen, older brother to former women’s world champion Tyler and free-surfing hell-man Mikey, first qualified for the Championship Tour in 2010, and went on to claim four event wins over his 12 years on tour: the 2011 Quiksilver Pro New York, the 2015 Fiji Pro Cloudbreak, the 2017 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, and the 2019 Outerknown Tahiti Pro.
Predictably, most of these wins have come in waves of consequence, even New York, which tossed up some of the best barrels ever seen on Long Island, enabling him to defeat Kelly Slater and pocket pro surfing’s biggest payday of $US300,000. Owen is also one of only five surfers to score a perfect heat (two perfect 10s) in competition, a feat accomplished just eight times in CT history. And he did it twice in a week, posting both of his perfect heat totals at the 2015 Fiji Pro at Cloudbreak.
But perhaps his most courageous achievement was in donning a protective helmet, post-Pipeline tragedy, to beat Gabe Medina for the title over the shallow coral shelf at Teahupo’o. So soon into his recovery, that took guts, something of which Owen has never been short.
Although I only saw that on TV, I have been privileged to watch his flowing forehand free-surfing from the channel at Cloudbreak, as well as his lip-smashing vertical backhand in competition at Bells, Margaret River and Snapper Rocks. Over more than a decade, if he wasn’t my favourite surfer to watch, he was top three.
And now he says farewell at Bells: “The WSL and Rip Curl have offered me the wildcard… My family, medical team and I agreed that this would be the perfect location for me to compete for the last time before hanging up the rashie. Competing in front of my friends, family, and fans for the last time at Bells will be amazing.”
It will be, Owen, and let’s hope we get to see you flying high and hard one last time with the jersey on.
Landen lands another one
Not content with another great showing at the Noosa Festival of Surfing, uber-talented Noosa all-boarder Landen Smales was recently named Sunshine Coast Athlete of the Year, as well as Indigenous Athlete of the Year at the Sunshine Coast Sports Awards.
Landen, still only 16, is filling up the trophy cabinet very quickly. At the sports awards, he was recognised for a stellar 2022, in which he took out state and national titles in shortboard and longboard, and that’s just for starters.
Noosa’s Alexa Leary was also honoured for her great results in disabled swimming.
At the surf festival, Landen took out the under 18 boys’ division from a strong international field and also finished fourth in the WSL longboard regional qualifier, giving him a good chance of making the championship series with a good result in Manly in May.
Landen’s Indigenous story began a few years back when dad Brent tracked his family to the Noongar and Bandjalung people of WA. Since then, he and older brother Kaiden have become proud and active participants in Indigenous surfing events and cultural programs.
