It's hard to overstate how massive a place in surf culture Australia holds, home to some of the sports's most influential champions-Wayne Bartholomew, Tom Carroll, Barton Lynch, Damien Hardman, Mark Occhilupo, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Stephanie Gilmore, Layne Beachley, Wendy Botha, Pauline Menczer, Chelsea Georgeson, and Mark Richards.
Representing Team Australia-known as "The Irukandji's," the indigenous name for the country's many varieties of venomous jellyfish-will be Tyler Wright - the back-to-back World Champ in 2016 and ‘17; Molly Picklum - the back-to-back winner of the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach in 2023 and ‘24; 2023 WSL World Title runner-up Ethan Ewing; and Jack Robinson, multiple WSL event winner including the 2023 SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro.
Surfing's Olympic inclusion surely seemed obvious to Australians, as surfing is a national pastime and surfers are mainstream sports stars, household names. That may be because Australia's tradition of producing champions goes back to the very first World Championships held at Manly Beach in 1964, won by Australian industry pioneer Midget Farrely and female surfing trailblazer Phyllis O'Donell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt7NFlhv50o
The hard-charging Australians are ready to leave their mark on history. Above, Jack Robinson on a crazy one from 2022. - WSL / Beatriz Ryder
It's also because the country's athletes and surf communities are supported by the largest national surfing organization in the world, Surfing Australia and the Australian Boardriders Clubs, which helped shape each of this year's Australian Team members.
With more than 200 clubs and 200,000 members scattered all over the Australian coast, and a hundred-plus affiliate surf schools teaching something like a quarter-million people how to surf each year, the Boardriders Clubs bring together the best surfers from all over Australia, for competition that's as much about community and camaraderie as it is about winning.
For Tyler Wright, surfing in the Olympics means the opportunity to add to the family's legacy, her older brother, Owen, bringing home the Bronze Medal at Tokyo 2020. For Jack, Molly, and Ethan, it means the opportunity to surf for pride and Country, and one of the important surfing nations in history.
Learn more about Teahupo'o here.
Head to the International Surfing Association (ISA) for more information on surfing in the Olympics.