Julian Wilson Gold Coast Pro trials. Photo: Beatriz Ryder//World Surf League
The WSL made a lot of surf fans happy in March when it granted former Championship Tour vet Julian Wilson a spot on this year’s Challenger Series. Following a four-year layoff and months of pleading with the WSL for his shot, Wilson will be campaigning to get back on tour at 36 years old. He won’t have to wait to qualify before getting back into a CT heat or two though after winning the trials of Australia’s Gold Coast Pro. The win earned him a wildcard slot in this week’s event, the fifth stop on the 2025 schedule and a contest Wilson won back in 2018.
“I love this event,” Wilson said. “I have had the privilege of winning this event and surfing in another Final, it’s in my home state, so this is really special. This is the most special event to me, and I was actually getting quite emotional out there at the thought of getting another opportunity to surf at this level at this event. Competing against the best surfers is what I want, and I can’t believe it’s come around this quickly to get this opportunity. I’m really taken aback, to be honest, this means a lot to me.”
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Wilson publicly announced his return to professional surfing in August of 2024. His last CT action came in the shortened 2021 season where his best result was a quarterfinal appearance in the Rip Curl Rottnest Search. He withdrew from the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro the following month.
“By no means am I calling it a retirement from professional surfing and the decision I have made is in line with what I value most in my life and that is my family,” he said at the time. “The inability to travel internationally with them now and for the foreseeable future is enough for me to take a step back and be there for my wife and children.”
Wilson’s first CT heat in four years will be the Opening Round where he’s set to go up against Liam O’Brien and world number one Italo Ferreira.
