Status Quo with Owen Wright on STAB Mag
Owen Wright, runner up at the Billabong Pro Tahiti.
SYDNEY, New South Wales / Australia (Thursday, September 1, 2011) – Owen Wright (AUS), 21, 2010 ASP Rookie of the Year, has just netted his first elite career final in one of the most memorable ASP World Title contests in ages. The lanky Aussie fearlessly charged through heaving 10 foot barrels at the Billabong Pro Tahiti and was stopped just short of his first career win by rampaging 10-time ASP World Champ Kelly Slater (USA), 39. STAB Magazine caught up with the goofy-footer after the event finished to get his thoughts on Teahupo’o, the ASP World Tour and the Quiksilver Pro New York. This… is their story…
Owen Wright, from Lennox Head on Australia’s North Coast, is unassuming, wholesome, and genuine. He don’t party like other 21-year-olds, and it shows – his rig is scarily-toned. Like a tiger on its hind legs, Owen stood powerful above the Chopes coral. He snagged what was, perhaps not the deepest, but the most perfect wave of the event (pictured above). A dreamy campaign (including some heat totals like 19.50 and 19.77) saw the kid in the final against Kell Slater, but he ended up falling just short by 1.33 points. Still in Tahiti, packing for New York, the zipper of Owen’s suitcase could be heard over the phone line as he spoke to Stab.
Stab: Was this the best WT event you’ve surfed in, wave-wise?
Owen Wright: The only time I’ve seen it that good for a WT event was in Mexico for the Search event there. But, I liked this one better ’cause it was a left.
Tell me about competing on a good left in a WT event – there hasn’t been much chance for that in your WT career so far. On the ‘QS there’s a lot of lefts and beachbreaks and stuff like that, but on the WT there’s just a lot of right-hand beachbreaks. It was pretty sick to actually get out there and get a sick swell. And just get barrelled. Even if this contest wasn’t on, I’d pay to come here and surf this swell anyway. It just so happened that we were here for it anyway, and we were in a contest.
For the full interview log on to STAB Magazine.
For more on Owen Wright view his full ASP WORLD TOUR PROFILE.
Category: All ASP News, ASP Editorial News
