Watch: Mikey Wright In “Root”

Curtains drawn. Lights dimmed. The slurred voices of the Costa Mesa crowd settled into a gentle roar. Mikey Wright’s new edit, “Root”, was only seconds away from premiering. Mikey was 7000 miles away. 

He was in town for the US Open, but an early loss meant a disappointed phone call and the copping of a Qantas Airlines ticket change fee. He took his frustration out via a super session at Lowers then went on his way. “I know what’s good for me right now,” he said. An evening of free alcohol and oversized bowls filled with condoms bearing his edit’s name didn’t fit into that picture. Some call it maturity. Others call it trying to qualify. 

Right now, Mikey is putting his head and hair down and hoping to smash his way onto the CT. He’s been partying less. Training more. Working with a coach, Troy Brooks, and figuring it out. Fresh off an injury, he made a semifinal at the first Prime of the year in Ballito and is sitting just out of qualification on the QS (15th).  

Here’s an edit that Wade Carroll put together after a few weeks with Mikey in West Oz. And here’s to seeing this raw, reckless breed of surfing on the World Tour.