Mick Fanning effusive in praise for Wilson's
return, "Been waiting for this day!! Go get 'em!"
There was little doubt, if we’re to look deep into our
hearts, that former title contender Julian Wilson would
one day return to the world tour.
Three years ago, Julian Wilson lit up Instagram with his shock
decision to, well, not exactly retire he said, but draw the curtain
on his pro surfing career immediately following the Olympics.
Wilson, who was only thirty-three at the time, was rated
seventeenth on the tour after a pretty ordinary start to the year
where he’d netted two seventeenths, two ninths and a fifth.
It wasn’t exactly the world tour year Wilson was hoping for
before the window of opportunity closed for the class of 1988,
which also includes South African Jordy Smith.
“I’m returning to my roots,” Wilson told the WSL. “I’ll be found
surfing the points at Noosa on my longboard and I will also be
found chasing some fun high-performance waves around Australia. I
have a few projects coming to life that I’m really excited about
and I’m just really looking forward to take a step back for a
little while.
Wilson had orbited the tour since 2011, was a rookie of the
year, made Gabriel Medina cry when he beat him in Portugal in 2012,
he beat Medina in the final of the Pipe Masters in 2014 and three
years later beat Medina to win the 2017 Tahiti Pro.
In 2018, he was the only
non-Brazilian to win a tour event.
In 2015, Julian Wilson bravely paddled towards Mick Fanning in
his own existential battle with the second-greatest predator of all
time, the Great White shark.
In the wake of his decision to step off the tour,
Julian Wilson pivoted to hard-edged multi-functional fashion with
his brand Rivvia Projects.
Wilson followed Dane Reynolds/Craig Anderson and Luke Egan into
the rag-trade, Reynolds and Ando with Former and Egan with
Depactus, a brand that flew a little too close to the sun before
the glue holding its wings melted and it was bought for a song by
SurfStitch.
Well, today, Julian Wilson has announced he’s back in the
competitive surfing game and, although he doesn’t know if his
return will be greeted with open arms from the WSL, wildcards etc,
he don’t care.
He’s back, even if he has to do regional qualifying events with
hopped up eighteen year olds.
This time three years ago I was sitting in a hotel
quarantine room in the aftermath of my Tokyo Olympic campaign,
watching my dream as a WT surfer fade away while heading home to be
the best partner and Dad that could be during a very challenging
time (mentally).
I don’t regret my decision for a second and I love my wife and
family to bits. Nothing in life compares to a healthy relationship
at home and the opportunity to raise a family.
The past 6 months I’ve had competing firmly at the forefront of
my mind. It’s time for me to give it another crack. My hope is to
get a WSL wildcard for the 2025 challenger series.
Much praise from many legends including Mick Fanning who wrote,
“Been waiting for this day!! Go get em!” and even the surfer whom
Julian made cry, Gabriel Medina.
“Come back brother,” writes Medina, who added the Raising Hands
enjoy which indicates praise or celebration.
Question for the below-the-liners: what sorta chance has Julian
Wilson got to get through the Challenger Series and then to climb
back into the upper rungs of the Champ Tour?
Excellent or not quite-so-excellent?
