From small towns to the big time, Australia’s Olympic surfing team set for Paris and Tahiti gold

It’s a little-known fact that all four Australian surfers competing at the upcoming Paris Olympics are from regional areas, underlying the sport’s connection to little towns with big surf breaks.

Australia has 34,000 kilometres of coastline with over 10,000 beaches, so it’s no surprise that small towns like Culburra on the NSW South Coast, where Tyler Wright grew up with her four surfing siblings, are fertile breeding grounds for excellent surfers.

“When I grew up, I had like 15 kids on my street that surfed,” Wright recalls.

The 30-year-old two-time world champion is heading to her first Olympics, still recovering after having surgery to expand airways around her nose, and also suffering a blow to the head.

 But despite all this, she is feeling good.

“I’ve struggled this season with the adaptations only because I got hit in the head,” she said.

“I’ve still got a fair few screws in my head at the moment. But it’s all going well and it’s the best I’ve felt probably throughout my entire life, so that’s incredible.”

Fellow Irukandji team member Jack Robinson can relate to the small town vibe having grown up in Margaret River south of Perth, known for its wineries and waves.

The 26-year-old, ranked number three in the world, now lives just south of the Gold Coast in New South Wales.

“If it’s a small town that you’re from there’s still really good surfers because the waves are pretty good everywhere in Australia, so I think that has a lot to do with it,” he said.

Robinson has secured a run of top results in 2024, including a first in the Margaret River Pro in April and in Hawaii’s Sunset Pro in February, so he is expected to continue that form at Teahupo’o, the Olympic surfing venue in Tahiti — especially if the waves are big.

He won’t be drawn on whether he values a world title or Olympic medal more.

“I think they are both as good as one another. It’s just different,” he said.

The NSW Central Coast town of Terrigal is homing to rising charger and, at 21, youngest team member Molly Picklum.

She is currently ranked fourth in the world and attributes some of her success to her local surfing environment.

Women in ascendance

Picklum is one of a group of young female surfers to have burst onto the scene in recent years, surfing waves of consequence at such high levels they are drawing attention away from the traditional male domination in the sport.

“Obviously this whole generational shift that everyone is talking about is based on performances at Pipeline [in Hawaii] and Tahiti and whatever, so I think obviously the pressure we are carrying to try and put those performances up is there,” she said.

“Obviously we are used to WSL events, but now with the Olympic Games, it’s going to be some weird and different positions we are going to be in, so I’m heading over really open-minded and ready to enjoy the whole experience.”

Final Australian team member Ethan Ewing, 25, is from the small North Stradbroke Island community in Queensland.

He sits just behind Robinson at fifth on the world table with an impressive display of quarter final or better finishes this year at events in Hawaii, Portugal, Bells Beach and Brazil.

He’ll come back to Australia for a send-off from his “super small but really strong” support crew, but is currently surfing in Fiji as it offers similar conditions to Tahiti.

A big swell is currently hitting parts of the Pacific including Tahiti, giving a preview of what could be on offer for the Olympics, with large very powerful waves pitching directly into a very shallow reef.

Surfers like Wright and Picklum acknowledge their fear but also embrace the opportunity to showcase their talent.

“I feel like the women, we’re still trying to learn out there and push ourselves and see just how we fit in the line-up out there, but I’m really excited,” Picklum said.

Jack Robinson is also hoping the surfers get to see Teahupo’o in all its glory.

“Yeah, it excites me. That’s what I live for.”