Ozzie Wright, original wrong’un. Photos: Christie

He’s got his critics but ozzie Wright’s influence on both surfing performance and culture cannot be underestimated. Hot on the heels of Christian Fletcher, ozzie started out as a competitive surfer coming second in the Australian Junior titles followed by an 11th at the ISA World Titles in Brazil (won by Kalani Robb that year). But anyone who watched him surf outside of competition knew they were seeing something ahead of its time. Above all else, ozzie was responsible for bringing cutbacks, floaters and aerials together in one seamless ride, thus giving rise to the ‘combo’ style surfing that has formed the foundation of guys like Jordy Smith, John John Florence and Julian Wilson’s careers. Although never demonstrated in a competitive environment (judges weren’t really scoring airs at this point anyway), his performances in seminal Australian performance surf films such as Seven Days Seven Slaves and his own profile film, 156 Tricks, set a benchmark for stylish, progressive surfing. His approach to surfing, fashion, culture and music, meanwhile, can be found in almost every of the modern generation of high profile surfers, from Dane Reynolds to Kolohe Andino to John John and Dion Agius. “I think he paved the way for younger guys who grew up watching him to be able to justify a career in freesurfing. There are a few guys now who have managed to make careers out of freesurfing and that whole movement is slowly growing and gaining recognition among the rest of the surfing world, which is awesome. I think he pioneered that,” says Dion.

– JS