By Dan Walsh
Two-time world surfing champion and Paris 2024 Olympian Tyler Wright has revealed she had an off-season operation to insert seven screws into her head to ease breathing issues that left her “under-oxygenated and semi-suffocating all the time”.
On a dramatic day at Portugal’s Ripcurl Pro, Wright progressed to the quarter-finals as world No.1 Molly Picklum was a shock casualty in the round of 16 and world No.4 Brisa Hennessy withdrew from the event after suffering a ruptured eardrum when her board hit her in the white water.
Wright finished the 2023 season in third place, her highest finish after a debilitating bout of post-viral syndrome left her bed-bound in 2018, but was uncharacteristically quiet during the Hawaiian legs of the tour.
The 29-year-old told the WSL broadcast on Monday morning (AEDT) that she had undergone extensive testing and scans to diagnose an airways issue with which she has lived and competed for much of her life.
“I’ve had a fair few doctors and specialists tell me they don’t know how I do what I do,” Wright said.
“I shouldn’t be able to do what I do, according to my brain scans and my anatomy. It’s really unusual that I am a professional surfer [with the condition].
Tyler Wright impressed at the Ripcurl Portugal Pro.Credit: Damien Poullenot/World Surf League
“Through one of the specialists we ended up finding that most of the time I’m under-oxygenated and I’m semi-suffocating all the time through my nose, and my airways are really small.
“So through the off-season I got a maxillary palatal expander [a device that widens the mouth] in. Essentially I’ve got seven screws in my head, between nine and 17 millimetres [in length] and in the off-season I expanded it. Essentially it popped the bone and I got seven millimetres [added airway space] through that.”
Wright has long been one of surfing’s most outspoken voices and has been frank in detailing health and wellbeing issues throughout her career.
Last year she was hospitalised for three days by period pain that left her bedridden and unable to eat leading into an event last year, and has dealt with similar menstruation issues for much of her life.
Wright’s back-to-back 2016 and 2017 world titles were followed by a 14-month lay-off triggered by post-viral syndrome that puzzled doctors for months while she battled chronic fatigue and emotional breakdowns.
In Portugal though, Wright surfed with customary power and poise to win her round-of-16 heat against American Alyssa Spencer, despite paddling out after the rookie due to a miscommunication that saw Wright miss her start time.
Wright will represent Australia alongside Picklum at Teahupo’o at the Paris 2024 Olympics in July. She had originally pushed for her airways expansion procedure to be put off until then, only to be told it was needed immediately after last year’s world tour.
“Honestly, it’s been life-changing, it’s the sanest I’ve ever felt. It’s been a little tricky navigating during the season with the pressure points it’s put on other parts of my brain. Every time I hit my hit, I kind of got a concussion before the season started and every time I tap it, it wigs me out a bit.
“I’ve got to train a new system, [after] 13 years in it’s perplexing and does my head in a little bit. But I’m working it through, and I’ve got great support and great doctors.
“It’s been really successful and it’s changing my life, but it’s also a process and that’s only step one and a half of a multi-step process.”
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