Sally Fitzgibbons on celebrating female surfing and her new mindset: ‘I'm not fighting anymore’
The three-time World Surfing Games champion rose up as part of the strongest Australian female surfing generation. Now, after more than 15 years at the top level, her competitive fire is burning brighter than ever. Find out the secret behind the surfer's enduring drive and why she has no plans to retire.
As a 10-year-old, Sally Fitzgibbons sat at Stadium Australia in Sydney to watch Cathy Freeman run in the women’s 400m final.
When Freeman took off from the starting blocks in her now iconic ‘swift suit’, a young Fitzgibbons was startled at the magnitude of cheers that accompanied the runner's every step.
“Having a home Olympic Games in Sydney at 10 years old, that influenced our generation so heavily,” the Australian surfer told Olympics.com. “You just heard the stadium rumble. When you’re at that age, you don't realise the impact. And now all these years later, I've still got that emotion stored in me.”
When Fitzgibbons saw Freeman again two decades later, this time at a training camp ahead of her own Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, she could not contain her tears.
“I fully just burst into tears and I was like, ‘Whoa, where'd that come from?’” Fitzgibbons recalled. “It shows that Olympic sports and the Olympic movement are so powerful for our youth and to create a sense of a landscape of imagination for them, for what's possible.”
Freeman is one in a long line of strong female athletes who inspired Fitzgibbons on her own sports journey.
Now one of the veterans herself, the three-time World Surfing Games champion talked about the importance of role models, sharing the line-up with the newest generation of talents, and what keeps her fire burning after 15 years at the top level.
Sally Fitzgibbons lighting the competitive fire
When Fitzgibbons entered her first year on the World Surf League’s (WSL) Championship Tour in 2010, the Australian flag was already a common sight during victory celebrations.
With the exception of 2004, an Australian surfer won the women's competition every year going back to 1998. Layne Beachley began her seven-title run in 1998, with Stephanie Gilmore picking up the baton in 2007 to start her quest for a record eight world titles.
Their example lit a fire in the rookie Championship Tour surfer.
“The long lineage of Australian female surfers that have been world champions and title holders, they kind of showed us what's possible,” said Fitzgibbons, one of the biggst stars at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games.
While the Australian surfing stars pushed Fitzgibbons to excel, it was not without heartbreak.
The competition with Gilmore, in particular, has resulted in several close defeats. Three years her senior, she beat Fitzgibbons for the world title in the 2010 and 2012 Championship Tour seasons and has become what Fitzgibbons fondly calls her “ultimate driver”.
“Sometimes in your story you think, ‘Oh man, there's some clutch near-misses’, and for me, I just kind of celebrate it,” Fitzgibbons said. “There's so many cool things about it because there's nothing like the drive of a second place. And I've had these moments that have been like, ‘Whoa, it's so possible. It's right there’. I've got more than enough evidence that on my day it can all happen.”
Stephanie Gilmore (in yellow) and Sally Fitzgibbons play rugby on the beach during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Sally Fitzgibbons and the next generation: “That moment’s arrived”
While Stephanie Gilmore is taking a break during the 2024 season, there is no risk that Fitzgibbons will feel bored due to a lack of competition.
Paddling out at Pipeline Pro last year, the Australian surfer had a sudden realisation that she was now the veteran of the sport.
“There was four of the rising stars in women's surfing and myself,” she recalled. “We were just sitting around looking at each other going, ‘Oh my gosh, that moment's arrived’. You can paddle out in any line-up around the world and there's a huge take-up in women's surfing.”
In the past season alone, Fitzgibbons has surfed in heats with some of the freshest faces of the sport, including USA teens Caitlin Simmers and Bettylou Sakura Johnson, and Australia’s rising talent Molly Picklum.
And she is relishing the experience.
“It has been a male dominated world,” Fitzgibbons said. “I've grown up with brothers and it's great having the men's energy and that drive and push to get better, but I think it really balances it out because female surfers, we have this competitive drive and instinct, but we're able to really appreciate where we are and what we're doing and bring a sense of elegance and grace to the whole landscape."
Team Ukraine surfers congratulate Sally Fitzgibbons after her heat at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games.
Good cry, fun surf session, and more: Sally Fitzgibbons’ secrets to getting past defeat
While the growth in women’s surfing is cause for Fitzgibbons to celebrate, there is no denying that it also makes her own quest for titles more difficult.
Last season, the surfing veteran found herself in the bottom half of the mid-season cut line while several youngsters, including Simmers, Johnson and Picklum, continued with the next five competitions.
After 13 seasons on the Championship Tour and three world runner-up results, Fitzgibbons has learned to be level-headed about defeat. When in the thick of it on the beach, however, her go-to strategy is just to let it all out.
“Gosh, for me, my emotions, I wear them on the outside, so a big cry,” Fitzgibbons said about dealing with losses. “I love a good cry. I think it's very cleansing. And if I try and hold back that emotion, I think it serves me better just to let it out. That energy builds up for the week - what's going to happen and what's the scenario and I want to make it all the way to the pinnacle - and then it doesn't happen. That release, it has to come out somewhere.”
Casual surf sessions with family and friends, body surfing and trail running also help Fitzgibbons regain her balance.
And invariably, after the initial tears, Fitzgibbons always breaks out into her signature smile and celebrates what her competitors have achieved.
“That comes with that athletic maturity. And as you evolve and develop, you'd hope you're building your character, first and foremost. Because when we finish surfing, the game will pass and all that is left is you and your character,” she said.
“I'm just proud of my own story, and I don't want to replicate anyone else's. And I don't want anyone else's titles either. Everyone's going to have their day and I want to be able to really own one and celebrate.”
Sally Fitzgibbons won her career's third World Surfing Games title in 2021.
How Sally Fitzgibbons keeps the fire burning
Ten years old when Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympics, Fitzgibbons will be 41 when the Games return to Australia for Brisbane 2032.
And just as she was mesmerised after watching Freeman's golden run, Fitzgibbons is sure many children will be inspired to pursue their Olympic dreams after those Games. If she can be inspire them before that, even better.
“I can't wait to see the kids picking out their boards now that they're aiming for Brisbane," she said. "Just to see the impact of our sport and our careers on them is very significant."
While she is not expecting to compete in eight years' time, Fitzgibbons also does not plan to retire from the sport anytime soon.
The secret to this longevity is in the surfer's new mentality.
“At this point in my career, I'm at ease because I'm not fighting anymore. I guess at the start, I was I was fighting so hard to find that place in myself that I wanted to be world champion or else. And I think (I'm) coming from that place of striving and kind of aggressive striving to now a sense of healthy striving,” Fitzgibbons said.
“I show up now because I just love this game and I want to compete fully, wholeheartedly against this next generation," she continued. "It's a really cool place to be, to compete out of purity instead of fighting. And I think I've still got many more years because I wake up every day and I love this process, genuinely.”