Tully White:Surfer and climate activist

Peninsula Living recently featured Tully White (Class of 2017) for her work as a climate activist as well as being a champion surfer. 

Tully White (Class of 2017) learned to surf with friends when she was about 14 years old, and quickly got hooked. She entered the Manly Malibu Club when she was 15 and was encouraged to compete at club events along the east coast and state and national titles. 

Now, at 25, Tully is ranked number 12 in the World Surfing League's (WSL) longboard leaderboard. Ranked number one here at home, she won the open women category at the 2024 Australian Longboard Titles on the Gold Coast. She will represent Australia at the 2025 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Championships. 

She first represented Australia in the 2018 ISA World Championships in China. Her first overseas competition was exciting for her, wearing the national uniform. The team even 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 represented Australia in places such as El Salvador, California, and Abu Dhabi, where they use a wave pool! "Surfing in a wave pool is an amazing experience," says Tully. "It's very different 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." Tully's surfing profile gives her a platform to share her other passion: the environment. She always loved the outdoors, but it was swimming with whale sharks in Western Australia that was a defining moment. "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." She completed a degree in environmental science online with Charles Sturt University, which allowed her to keep 'chipping away' at her studies while travelling. Now, she advocates for the environment and shares her knowledge with others through her surfing career. She's an ambassador for Surfers for Climate, an Australian charity uniting the surfing community to advocate for the environment. "A lot of surfers feel a natural connection to the ocean," explains Tully. "They want to look after it because they get so much from it. Surfers for Climate gives surfers resources and pathways to activate that energy: such as stopping offshore fossil fuel developments, implementing climate solutions and suggesting practical ways to reduce their footprint. "We also help connect surfers with petitions and paddle-outs and contacting their local MPs, as that kind of thing can be a step outside people's comfort zone. We bridge that for the surf community and make it a little bit more accessible." A proud local, Tully is part of the Northern Beaches Council My Manly campaign, and shares her favourite spots with the public on the hellomanly website. She also raises funds for SurfAid, who help families in remote surf communities access healthcare, clean water and food. "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."