World surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore says brutal attack changed her life

WORLD champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore has opened up about how a brutal attack by a stranger almost derailed her career.

‘The attack changed me forever’

WORLD champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore has opened up about how a brutal attack by a stranger almost derailed her career.

The 26-year-old from NSW is favourite to win her sixth world title in Hawaii next month, but has now revealed she nearly fell apart completely after the savage assault in 2010.

She was left with head and wrist injuries after being viciously beaten with a metal bar by a homeless man on her way home to her Coolangatta apartment.

CASCAIS, Portugal (Sunday, October 5, 2014): The Cascais Women's Pro, stop No. 9 of 10 on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP Women's World Championship Tour, was completed today at the backup venue of Bafureira in clean 2-to-4-foot waves. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) has won the Cascais Women's Pro today, defeating fellow Australian Sally Fitzgibbons in an exciting final. The 5-time ASP World Champion takes the rankings lead before the Target Maui Pro, final Stop on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour. Pic: Laurent Masurel / ASP

And in a new documentary, Stephanie in the Water, she reveals that the frightening experience totally changed her attitude towards competing.

“In the first part of my career, I definitely worked hard to achieve my world titles and winning events but it just felt so easy and natural,” she told Fairfax.

“I hadn’t really thought about putting in that extra effort or really seeing the value of doing it until after that happened.”

She was told by doctors that she would have to stay out of the water for seven weeks, just before an upcoming fight for the world title in Brazil.

CASCAIS, Portugal (Sunday, October 5, 2014): The Cascais Women's Pro, stop No. 9 of 10 on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP Women's World Championship Tour, was completed today at the backup venue of Bafureira in clean 2-to-4-foot waves. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) has won the Cascais Women's Pro today, defeating fellow Australian Sally Fitzgibbons in an exciting final. The 5-time ASP World Champion takes the rankings lead before the Target Maui Pro, final Stop on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour. Pic: Laurent Masurel / ASP

It was to be the end of a four-year run as world champion, which she said left her feeling hesitant in the surf and vulnerable in everyday life.

“It knocked the happiness out of me,” she says in the film.

She told ESPN at the time: “I would never blame competition losses on this, but at a point, I had to say to myself, ‘It’s OK to feel angry or not be happy right now’.

“I had to stop and breathe for a second. I could be dark for a few moments.”

Documentary about five-time world champion Tweed Heads surfer Stephanie Gilmore called "Stephanie In The Water " Filmed by Ava Warbrick. Stephanie Gilmore and filmaker Ava Warbrick.

She says she was forced to “really fight for something” for the first time in her life.

A year on, she clawed her way back to win her fifth world title in France. Now she is chasing a sixth she says she has finally moved on from the past.

But she is no longer simply the trouble-free “Happy Gilmore” of old, admitting she has to work for her wins.

Her new documentary directed by Ava Warbrick, daughter of Rip Curl co-founder Doug “Claw” Warbrick, shows how she battled her way back, with the sort of courage and dedication that defines a sporting champion.

Surfer Stephanie Gilmore