Why Julian Wilson decided to retire from the World Surf Championship at 33

He’s been known as an elite surfer for nearly two decades. Impressive when you consider he’s only 33.

He matured astonishing teenage ability into performing with the best.

Highlights included fearless triumphs at the events on the blue bombs that roll into Pipeline and Teahupo’o.

He won on the tricky small stuff, too. A childhood spent skateboarding translated effortlessly to the transformation of surfing above the wave, not just on it.

In 2018, he went within a layer of wax of winning a world title.

And then, last year, he gave it up.

For Wilson, the pandemic shifted priorities like the seabed does in a storm.

Traversing the world hunting that perfection on a wave didn’t seem so great. It was a world away from his family, tiptoeing through countries trying not to get Covid-19.

His reason for being wasn’t in El Salvador, or some outer reef in Indonesia. It was back home in Newcastle, NSW, with wife Ashley and two energetic kids Olivia and River.

“I’m just really trying to enjoy the benefits of the decision I’ve made,” Wilson tells CodeSports in a candid chat about why he stopped, and where to now.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned making the hardest decision career-wise of my life is the importance of my own wellbeing.

“I want that message to be shared.”

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Wilson’s decision to quit the lucrative world surfing tour didn’t come in a light bulb moment.

It grew gradually, fertilised by spending time away for his family in faraway lands when lockdowns were the norm here.

Last May he was in El Salvador for an Olympic qualifying event at a time when sitting next to the wrong person with the wrong sniffle could have significant consequences.

“The idea of catching Covid while travelling in third world countries was just not a healthy place to be,” Wilson says.

He willed himself to get to Tokyo, where surfing made its Olympic debut.

Wilson loved representing Australia, but it served as a neat punctuation point. Instead of hopping back on the World Surf League caravan which shifted to Mexico, he gave up the golden ticket so many crave to get a hold of and came home.

“Sitting in hotel quarantine watching Mexico (after the Olympics) was an interesting place to be – in limbo, not at home, not on the tour,” he says.

“There was a bit of FOMO, but there was also a massive sense of relief.

“To go chasing a world title is a dream and it motivates me, connects a lot of the dots and gives me great focus but when the task of doing that sacrifices a young family and a wife, and my own mental health and wellbeing …” Wilson trails off.

It’s easy to finish his thoughts.

Aside from the obvious focus on health, Covid made clear the baggage in many lives, Wilson’s tale an example.

For a 33-year-old father of two, the baggage of being on the road was significantly heavier than being home.

“Every day I’m reminded of my decisions, with my kids, stability at home, such an amazing age, not missing anything which is very nice.

“I’m now in a position with a changed focus. I’ve got a lot of time and stability. I’m able to be a consistent father figure at home and support my wife.”

Still, the adrenal glands are not like a tap. One can’t just keep using them, then turn them off for good.

Going head-to-head with the best provided a massive rush, so how can that energy be repurposed?

A few quiet moments before cascading down moving mountains of water actually became the catalyst for something entirely new.

*****

In December 2020, the World Surf League 2021 season got underway early by including a stop in Hawaii to take advantage of its famed winter swells on the North Shore, and notorious breaks like Pipeline.

It meant Wilson was away from Christmas – in fact, he was gone for three-and-a-half months – removed from his wife and kids mid-pandemic.

To form his own peace of mind connection while he waited to charge into the surf, Wilson started scribbling on his surfboards.

He’d etch ‘Rivia’, a nice little combo of River, his son, and Olivia, his daughter.

‘Rivia’ stayed in his subconscious. He surfed on.

Only when he stopped in mid-2021 did that little scribble come to life.

According to research company Grand View Research, the surfwear industry is worth an estimated $5 billion per year. That figure is expected to grow more than four per cent a year. Decent market if you get a piece of it.

With the pause button pushed on Wilson’s career and the great unknown of the rest of his life in front of him, an opportunity arose.

Wilson, his brother Bart and an old friend Jamal Gray, who was the brains behind Rhythm Clothing, put their heads together. Why not jump in? Start a brand.

Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Wilson loved skateboarding, loved dirt bikes, and of course, surfing.

“I used to nick Jamal’s shortboards, surf there at Noosa,” Wilson giggles.

Why not create some clothes that fit all of his hobbies? Surf, skate, bikes, and golf (Wilson has a handicap of 5).

Rivvia Projects will launch next month in Australia and America, then the world.

Rivvia has an extra ‘v’ from what he scribbled on his boards, making it look like a ‘w’, for Wilson.

“It’s more likely than not we’ll have a third, so not sure what I’ll do with the name then!” Wilson jokes.

“But no, I’m just trying to carve out something that doesn’t exist at the moment.

“It was too big a project to take on while touring.

“It’s exciting, and manifesting this desire to grow and keep searching to get more out of myself and career.”

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Living the quiet life for the moment in Newcastle, Wilson has no plans for worldwide domination with Rivvia, but rather a chance at success.

So where does that leave the paused part of his life, professional surfing?

“To do the world tour is a huge commitment, and at the moment I’m not sure I’m ready to commit,” Wilson says.

Because Wilson gave up his golden ticket on the main tour, he’d have to get back there the hard way, qualifying through the new eight-event Challenger Series (which just passed through the Gold Coast and Manly) where Wilson competed, just to check the vibe.

It wasn’t enough to get him back full time just yet.

“I’ll see how this year goes with the massive changes,” he says.

“I’ll know at the end of this year if it’s got the appeal to put in the time and sacrifice.”

As Wilson ponders that point, in the background of his chat with CodeSports at the Manly Challenger event, a 42-year-old surfer, Nathan Hedge, rips a wave apart, drawing hoots and hollers from those on the beach.

Wilson still has a decade to get the hoots and hollers aimed at Hedge, even more if he follows the example of 50-year-old Kelly Slater.

When Wilson hears that sound, his attention diverts for a split second, the noise a reminder to that little special buzz he once chased around the world.

For now, that buzz is fleeting. He’s somehow meshed his past life, into his present and future, and the result is simple.

“Looking at it as a whole, people can back themselves into the unknown and follow their gut,” he says.

“My gut got me to where I’m at and presented the scariest decision. It’s had amazing benefits so far and whichever road I take from here I understand I can support myself either way.

“I can throw all the eggs in the basket and go again, or keep it the way it is and be really happy with the career I’ve had.”

Whatever the case, Wilson knows what he is in the here and now.

A hard place to get to sometimes, but when there, utopia.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”