Johanne Defay Announces (Temporary) Departure From The CT

At last year’s Olympics at Teahupo’o, Johanne Defay cracked her head open on her first wave, only to come back and surf her way to a Bronze medal.

Aside from that achievement for Team France, Johanne Defay clinched her sixth CT win close to home in Portugal last year — a significant capstone for Johanne’s tenth year on tour, where she placed 6th overall, narrowly missing the Final Five cut-line. Her best-ever finish was 3rd in the world in 2022.

This year, Johanne she pulled out of Pipeline citing “minor injuries” but then came back, placing an equal 9th last week in Abu Dhabi.

Today, however, Johanne announced that she’d be stepping away from the Tour, at least for this year:

Hi everyone,

I’ll be honest, the post-Olympics period hasn’t been easy. Where to find the motivation, the desire, the meaning after all those emotions? I went deep inside myself to find this medal. I also won my sixth World Tour event in Europe last March with my whole family (or almost) watching. For over 15 years, I’ve been traveling the world in pursuit of a childhood dream. I’ve come full circle, I’ve reached my goals, I’m over thirty and perspectives change, priorities evolve. To continue living my dream, I need this break to devote myself to other projects… including being a mom! This new adventure means I’ll have to put the world tour on hold for the next few months, hoping to be back in top form next season! Rest assured, I intend to surf for as long as possible even with my big belly and try to combine motherhood and training as best I can.

Men are lucky enough to be able to pursue their professional careers while becoming dads, and I’d like to pursue mine while being a mom

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With Johanne still at the height of her ability, it’s encouraging to see her committed to competing after having a child.

Worth noting, Lisa Andersen won four World Titles after having her first child. Here’s to hoping Johanne can do the same. We wish her all the best.

Word from the WSL is that Johanne will compete in Portugal, and it’s unclear which event will be her last in 2025. When she leaves, the season wildcard spot will go to Spain’s Nadia Erostarbe.

P.S. This marks the fourth surfer taking the year off, with Steph Gilmore, John John Florence, and Gabriel Medina announcing their departure before the season’s start.