All for the Family

Tyler Wright was destined to be a future world champion surfer. At just 14 she overtook multiple champions, some twice her age, to become the youngest-ever winner of a Championship Tour event. But the pressure of growing up "on tour" took its toll. Were it not for a timely conversation with her older brother Owen, also a professional surfer, she may have quit her career at just 18. Over the following three years, Tyler developed a reputation for her carefree attitude to competing. Then, after a semi-final loss in 2015, she had an epiphany: she did want to win. But her quest for a world title was thrown into turmoil when Owen Wright suffered a serious brain injury at the treacherous Pipeline break in Hawaii. At 21, Tyler became her brother’s primary carer. She felt at a crossroads: should she quit the tour to be by her brother’s side, or leave him to chase her dream of the world title?