Tyler Wright struggled to sit or stand for months – but surfing keeps dragging her back in

“Am I done?”

Tyler Wright has asked herself bigger questions.

Most notably, “Am I going to survive?” when a debilitating bout of post-viral syndrome left her bedridden for periods for more than a year, a cruel postscript to back-to-back world titles by the age of 23.

Now a few days short of her 32nd birthday, Wright’s body has been through the wringer and then some during the past few years. Skull expansion surgery and the seven screws in her head eased breathing issues that had her “basically semi-suffocating” in and out of the water.

But the operation also exacerbated head knocks and concussion symptoms.

Her 2025 season began with triumph at Pipeline – becoming the first woman to win the iconic Hawaii event twice – and an ankle injury in the final, as well as damage to the C3, C4 and C5 vertebrae in her neck.

By August, she added two slipped discs in her back, hip and pelvis issues, and didn’t surf for the next seven months.

“So yeah, there’s definitely been times where I did sit down and ask myself this summer, ‘Am I done?’” Wright says.

“I’ve been injured so many times in the last couple of years. Mentally, it takes its toll.

“It’s probably the most serious I’ve been about those questions, because competing and still chasing the tour around the world is something that I don’t want to pressure myself into.

“If it works, it works. And when it doesn’t … obviously in the last couple of years I’ve felt like I’m closer to wrapping up than keeping my career going.

“Mentally, you do ask yourself, ’How much more can I put my body through? Is this really a great idea to keep going and pushing myself?”

Wright only made it back into the water in mid-January. Since last winter, even sitting and standing has caused her grief.

“Sitting in the car for 10 minutes – that was a nightmare,” she said.

Having won her first WCT event at the age of 14, Wright’s 16th year on tour would have been in jeopardy if not for the revamped WSL schedule that has pushed the season back two months.

Wright will begin her 2026 campaign at Bells Beach – where she’s claimed victory twice – aware a hampered preparation has her well behind rivals such as world champion Molly Picklum and returning greats Steph Gilmore and Carissa Moore.

She will also surf for the first time in her career without the backing of sponsorship giant Rip Curl. Wright and three-time Brazilian men’s world champion Gabriel Medina are notable absentees from the Rip Curl roster this season, in a landscape where endorsements are everything to an athlete’s earnings.

An especially intensive past four months of rehab with renowned Melbourne neuro-orthopaedic specialist Brett Jarosz has Wright back on her feet once more, and intrigued specifically by the shape she’s in.

Jarosz was influential in getting Wright back in the water when her 2018 recovery from influenza A and post-viral syndrome stripped 18 kilos from her frame.

She is now back to 75 kilos, similar to when her power and aggression on the wave face secured her the 2016 and 2017 world titles.

“And that’s part of why I keep going, how I keep answering those questions of do I want to keep pushing my body,” Wright says while promoting Kayo’s coverage of the 2026 WSL season.

“I love learning about the brain, the body, the mechanics and foundational aspects of the body. I’m intrigued about how my surfing will go with this very different build-up.

“And I know I still love not only riding waves, but competing. Competing is still the funnest shit you can do to me. You can do everything right and still lose your heat, do everything wrong and somehow win. That’s absolutely asinine, and it’s so funny to me.

“That’s part of the spark that keeps me going – I still really enjoy the absolute chaos of surfing. But there have been a lot of doubts and fears with it for the last few years.”

Wright’s wife, Lilli, has been instrumental throughout her rehab. So too, the psychologist she sees regularly.

But along with her body’s frequent protests, Wright knows she will likely spend parts of 2026 wrestling with her own pragmatism and competitiveness.

“Obviously this is a late run into the season for me, and that’s OK. I have to keep reminding myself,” she says.

“I’m a pretty direct person, especially with myself. You’re not up to standard, you’re not up to scratch is a bit heavy when you haven’t surfed in seven months.

“I’m still learning to add context to that – hey, you were still in pain in mid-January. There’s definitely nerves there. But I’m pretty stoked to be back going around again, too”.