It has been seventeen months since we last saw two-time WSL Champion Tyler Wright who fell ill in South Africa and was temporarily hospitalised. Diagnosed with Influenza A with complications has seen the champion sidelined from competition ever since.
Taylor Wright announced this week she is ready to return and enter her next phase of recovery, pulling on the jersey and surfing in WSL CT event once again. The 25 yo will compete in the final event of the 2019 season, the lululemon Maui Pro with hopes of re-joining the CT in 2020.
“Maui is the next step in my recovery process,” said Wright. “I’ve taken a lot of steps to get to this point, and it’s been a lot of hard work. And after Maui, there’ll be another step. I’m not sure what pulling the jersey on will be like, or what is going to happen. But I’m okay with that. That’s part of the reason why I’m here, to expose myself to that competitive environment again. It’s part of the recovery process, and I’m ready to embrace it.”
Before competing in Maui, Wright has spent the past few weeks chasing swells around the Hawaiian Islands, testing her strength in bigger waves.
“I love being back in the water," continued Wright. "I haven’t surfed this much since I was 14. I’ve got boards everywhere, I’m exposing myself to bigger and heavier waves and love it.
“When I started feeling sick, they said I had Influenza A. I had complications from that. It’s taken me 17 months to recover. It messed up my brain and my body. I can feel that I’ve been out of the water for a year-and-a-half. I can feel that I’m 10 kilograms lighter. Things are different. It is an adjusting period. But as I said, I hadn’t surfed as much as I have in the past few months as I have in the last couple of years. I’m excited about that, and I’m excited about everything that I’m doing. It is all a trial at the moment…it’s part of taking those steps to come back.”
