Longboard international surfer Tully White is an advocate for the environment
Tully White learned to surf with friends when she was about 14 years old, and quickly got hooked. The former Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College student entered the Manly Malibu Club and was soon competing at state and national titles.
Now, at 25, Tully is ranked number 12 on the World Surfing League’s (WSL) longboard leaderboard. Ranked number one here at home, she won the open women category at last year’s Australian Longboard Titles on the Gold Coast.
She first represented Australia in the 2018 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Championships in China where the team took a jar of Australian sand with them.
“They had a glass box where every country poured in a jar of the sand from their local beach,” says Tully. “That was a pretty cool moment to be part of.”
Tully has competed in El Salvador, California and even Abu Dhabi, where they use a wave pool!
“Surfing in a wave pool is an amazing from the feelings you get in the ocean. It brings an exciting challenge because you know when your wave is going to be – down to the second – and it brings a different level of pressure, of course. Abu Dhabi was unreal, with the desert sunset in the background, an orange glow over the city and sand dunes.”
She will represent Australia at the ISA World Championships again in 2025.
Tully always loved the outdoors, but it was swimming with whale sharks in Western Australia that was a defining moment that sparked her environmental advocacy.
“I was captivated by the marine biologists on the boat,” Tully explains. “The way they shared their love for whale sharks and the ocean and just the way they educated as well as inspired was really cool.”
After school she opted for an online degree in Environmental Science which allowed her to study while travelling.
Tully recently dipped her toes in the water with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), who are based in Mosman’s Chowder Bay, by joining them for Operation Crayweed, one of their marine regeneration initiatives.
Tully with fellow Australian Longboard champion 2024 Declan Wyton
SIMS is actively reintroducing crayweed (vital in supporting marine species) into the waters around Sydney Harbour, after it became extinct in the 1980s.
“You help tie the crayweed down to pallets before placing it out in the harbour where it can hopefully survive on its own and create a whole new population in that area where it used to be,” Tully says.
“It’s rare that there’s such a simple way to make a big change and people can just dip in and help for a day for about $20.”
The surfer is also an ambassador for Surfers for Climate, which unites surfers to advocate for the environment.
“Surfers feel a natural connection to the ocean and want to look after it,” explains Tully. “Surfers for Climate gives surfers resources and pathways to activate that energy by connecting them things such as petitions and paddle-outs and contacting local MPs. We try and make it more accessible for the surf community.”
Raising funds for SurfAid, which helps support families in remote surf communities to access services like healthcare, clean water and food, is another of Tully’s passions.
“Surfers often travel to remote corners of the world, which can extract resources from small communities, and SurfAid essentially gives back to the remote communities,” says Tully.
“You can have quite an impact through sharing your passion for what you love.”