Australian World Surf League professional Sally Fitzgibbons, a four-time world champion gold medallist, Olympian and trailblazer whose competitive surfing career spans more than a decade, has reflected on the evolution of life at the top level of sport.
Fitzgibbons is one of Australia's most accomplished professional surfers, renowned for her consistency, longevity and competitive edge. Since a record-breaking rookie season in 2009, she has claimed 12 WSL Championship Tour victories, multiple ISA World Championship titles, and represented Australia at the Olympics.
Currently based in Colac, Victoria, Fitzgibbons reflected on her journey and laments how it has followed the natural rise and plateau that comes with any elite athletic performance.
"These past couple, it's definitely been a fun ride, kind of riding the natural bell curve," she said. "But being an athlete where you're on this rise and you hit this peak performance in terms of your physical maturity and your output of like flexibility and power and all those kinds of combinations."
The author of two books, Live Like Sally and Summer Fit - All Year Round, said there comes a point where physical peak gives way to experience.
"Then there's this moment that it kind of is never going to get better, I'd say, as it was through your 20s, but you have this wealth of experience and knowledge that you can lean on," she said. "And play the game with."
She said surfing, unlike many traditional sports, does not always reward preparation or effort in a predictable way.
"Sometimes sport just doesn't make a lot of sense. Like you can be out there fully prepared and ready for your moment," she said. "And then that way it just doesn't come. And you realise the ocean, you know, it's not on your time clock. And you just, you don't deserve to get this ride or, you know, even deserve anything from it from just being in it. So, it's this kind of like, it mirrors your life lessons, and it teaches you a lot about acceptance and just because you tried your heart out and surfed your heart, it doesn't have to equal a reward."
Fitzgibbons said Bells Beach holds personal significance to her, both as a place of natural wonder and a stage steeped in competitive surfing history – many including her own.
"There's the iconic channel in your mind of just picturing all of the legends of surfing that you've watched growing up and them having their moment on the waves out there at Bells Beach," she said. "(It's) just this beautiful tale that you go down there every year, and you just hope to write a new chapter for yourself. Every time I walk out there, whether I've won or I lost, it's just that embrace of the community when you come in and that warmth and you just, you can't wait to come back there and ride another wave."
Bells Beach holds particular importance for the gold medallist as a spiritual and career-defining home ground, where she won back-to-back Rip Curl Pro titles in 2011 and 2012.
The Olympic athlete has also been partnered with Harvey Norman for the past four years, with the brand continuing to support her both professionally and personally as she sets her sights on gold for her 16th season in the World Surf League Championship Tour in early 2026.
"They support my performances in the water, but they're also mirroring the stage of life I'm at. And I'm so fortunate to have a home for myself these days," she said. "To come home and know that a brand is backing you and want to create a space like this for me is just, as I said, it's so special and so valued."
Looking ahead, Fitzgibbons said her focus remains on training, performance and continuing to pursue the sport she loves.
"I guess it's just chasing this dream, trying to perform at my best under pressure and these moments out there for me," she said. "So, I'm still very much in love with this game and surfing and just sharing my of what I love with people around the world."
This article has been produced in partnership with Harvey Norman.
