Two-time world champion Tyler Wright has advanced to her first World Surf League quarter-final this year with a win over American Alyssa Spencer in Portugal, and then opened up on her latest health issues.
Wright claimed a comfortable 14.33-7.50 round-of-16 victory at the third stop of the 2024 WSL season at Molhe Leste, Portugal, advancing to a quarter-final showdown with Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan.
The Australian set up her win with an excellent first scoring wave of 8.00.
“I was actually really late for this heat so had to go back to basics, identify where your position is and roll the dice,” said the 29-year-old Wright, who revealed she had been suffering from health issues that required medical intervention in the off-season.
“I’ve had a fair few doctors and specialists tell me they don’t know how I do what I do.
“I found out that most of the time I’m under-oxygenated and semi-suffocating.
"My airways are too small basically, and over the off-season I had it expanded.
"Honestly it’s been life-changing, it’s the sanest I’ve ever felt.
"It’s really successful, 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.”
Wright was the only Australian to advance to the quarter-finals in Peniche after rising superstar and world No.1 Molly Picklum was ousted by Bryan 12-06-8.43.
The Hawaiian was rewarded for surfing a smart heat, whereas Picklum struggled to get on the right waves.
“It’s been stormy so I’ve just been doing a few free surfs in hail, rain, shine, anything, just to get acclimated to the cold water and get in a rhythm,” Bryan said.
“The waves are powerful here, which I really like, and my board’s feeling great."
Australians India Robinson, Isabella Nicholls, Sophie McCulloch and Sally Fitzgibbons also bowed out in the round of 16.
In the elimination round of the men's competition, Griffin Colapinto put on a masterclass, bouncing back after a priority interference cost him the heat on the opening day last week.
The Californian racked up a score of 14.80 in the heat, which also included fellow American Jake Marshall and Portuguese surfer Joaquim Chaves.
Conditions are expected to clean up drastically at Supertubos, raising the prospect of the event moving back to the main venue for the resumption of action late on Monday evening (AEDT).
