The recent years haven’t really been a golden period for our Aussie qualifying hopefuls. Sure, we inevitably get one or two new faces making the cut each year, and 2016 saw one of our biggest influxes onto the tour in some time (although two of those four have already been bounced back to the QS), but really, the qualifying story of the last half-decade or so has been all about the rise of the Brazilians, and in 2016, the emergence of a diverse European contingent.
For things to change, however, it sometimes only takes one small event to set those wheels in motion, and with Ethan Ewing’s come-from-nowhere rise through the WQS ranks in 2016, there’s renewed hope that a fresh generation of Aussie world-beaters will follow in his path.
A lot has been written already about the young North Straddie kid’s dazzling campaign last season, where in the space of twelve months he went from just another Aussie junior to surfing’s next big thing (with the results to back it up), but the majority of those stories have been about Ethan’s personal ascent and not the wider implications it might have for a nation whose rep as a surfing superpower has slipped somewhat in recent years. And that’s fair enough. There’s no guarantee that Ethan’s incredible feats last year means there’s more of it to come from our youngsters, but there’s a possibility it could, and that’s worth discussing.
To put things in perspective, the last time an Aussie teenager blitzed through the grovel and grind of the QS so dramatically was when Taj did it back in ’97, which in turn inspired a whole army of Australian juniors to get their acts together and jump on tour with him. For the next five years, nearly every one of our junior series standouts made that leap, from Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, to Phil McDonald, Nathan Hedge, Darren O’Rafferty, Tom Whittaker and more. It was a remarkable time for Australian surfing, and while it didn’t necessarily equate to a ton of world champions, it did mean we held the vast majority of seats on the then top 44. Things have changed a lot since then, of course, and you’d be a fool to argue that professional surfing hasn’t got more cutthroat and competitive, but do our current crop of up-and-comers believe a resurgence is possible and that Ethan’s achievements last year have helped show the way?
‘What Ethan achieved last year really paved the way for other kids around his age and showed that us Aussies can do it if we want it enough,’ says one of our most promising young hopefuls, Jacob Willcox. ‘We can match it to those other countries no doubt. We’ve just got to have self belief.’
Gold Coast junior Sheldon Simkus, who’s grown up sparring in the waves with Ethan, agrees that what his friend achieved last year was exactly what he and his contemporaries needed to get the fire in the belly going.
‘Watching him smash the ‘QS was pretty inspiring,’ says Simkus. ‘With him now on tour it sure is a big booster to try and qualify for 2018.’
With the army assembled and a brave new leader already poised to do battle at the frontlines of the sport, will Australia’s youngsters once again barge their way through the ranks and climb onto surfing’s biggest stage?
Time will tell. Until then, we’ve always got Ethan to hang our hopes on.