Isabella Nichols opens up about the torture of falling off the World Surf League Championship Tour and what inspired her comeback

The moment Isabella Nichols questioned whether she was capable of ever making it at the top level of surfing is the one that has sparked a resurgence and instilled a belief that she can compete with the best in the world.

Isabella Nichols after winning the Final at the GWM Sydney Surf Pro at Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia. Picture: Cait Miers/Getty Images

The moment Isabella Nichols questioned whether she was capable of ever making it at the top level of surfing is the one that has sparked a resurgence and instilled a belief that she can compete with the top five in the world.

The Gold Coast surfer will rejoin the World Surf League’s Championship Tour in 2025 where she hopes to make the top 10 and avoid the midseason cut for a third straight season.

Nichols has been forced to fight it out on the Challenger Series for the past two seasons after struggling to make early inroads on the Championship Tour but a shift in mindset more than anything else has her ready for a breakout year.

The 27-year-old had just fallen off the CT in 2023 and was in the NSW town of Narrabeen ahead of the second-tier Sydney Surf Pro after being pitted into a battle to requalify for the top tour.

Isabella Nichols of Australia surfs in the Finals at the GWM Sydney Surf Pro on May 14, 2024 at Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia. Picture: Matt Dunbar/Getty Images

By Nichols own words she was in a world of hurt.

“I had so much pent-up stress. I hadn’t been through the cut before, I didn’t know what it would feel like and I was pre-empting the worst.

“I wasn’t making decisions out of fear of making the wrong one. I had just surfed Snapper Rocks (in the Gold Coast Pro) and got a bad result and I spiralled.

“I was in bed in Narrabeen and wasn’t even getting up to go surfing before the competition.

“I didn’t surf the competition bank and I didn’t talk to anyone. There were tears for sure.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, if I was capable of requalifying and wondering what my future looked like, and how I would be able to financially support myself.

“People would come and see me and I would just break down.”

The decision to link up with coach Matt Grainger resulted in the duo searching out shore-breaks, going to the movies and shopping.

Isabella Nichols of Australia after surfing in Heat 8 of the Round of 32 at the EDP Ericeira Pro on October 1, 2024 at Ribeira D'Ilhas, Ericeira, Portugal. Picture: Manel Geada/Getty Images

“I didn’t even surf the comeptition bank and I won the contest,” Nichols said.

“That for me was a tell-tale sign. I have to look after myself first to be able to do my job well.”

Nichols was 14th in the CT rankings and was cut again in 2024 at the midseason mark but it didn’t deter her and a fourth-place finish in the Challenger Series has her ready to go back to the top-tier again.

“I feel like when I’m on my surfing is good enough to be in the top five or 10,” Nichols said.

“I’ve mostly been working on my the mental space in the last few years.”

Nichols was 20 when she moved from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast in order to have access to more consistent wave breaks and her board sponsor Darren Handley.

Key to her ability to reach the sport’s top echelon is the mechanical mind that has allowed her to develop her surfing skills.

Isabella Nichols of Australia surfs in Heat 2 of the Semifinals at the GWM Sydney Surf Pro on May 14, 2024 at Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia. Picture: Cait Miers/Getty Images

As a child she loved lego. As an adult she is studying mechnical engineering and is part of a rare group of people who love putting flat-packs of furniture together.

“I love it. The step-by-step process to things. When I was in Year 6 and first learning algebra my teacher would write me questions and give them to me so I could figure them out on my lunch break,” Nichols said.

She hopes to one day help design and build wave pools and often goes to the ones already established in Australia where she practices the same move repeatedly.

“You can hit the same section of the wave over-and-over again and really perfect a turn,” Nichols said.

“Sometimes that could seem to cancel out the creative factor in surfing and not going off feel but by repeating it so much you don’t need to think about it in a heat. That is what allows me to be creative in a heat because you aren’t trying to be too technical. The work is done.”