Melissa Woods
Stephanie Gilmore has made a fairytale return to Snapper Rocks, winning her seventh title at her home break after taking two years away from the tour.
The eight-time world champion held off a challenge from Luana Silva to claim the Gold Coast Pro title 21 years after her first win, denying the young Brazilian a maiden World Surf League title.
Australian fans enjoyed a double celebration on Monday with Queenslander Ethan Ewing edging Japan’s Connor O’Leary in the men’s final to win his first tour event since 2023.
Returning to the Championship Tour fulltime in 2026 after her extended hiatus, Gilmore found her groove in the third stop of the year and outclassed 21-year-old Silva 17.33 to 14.07.
It was her first tour win since July 2022 – the year she won her last world title – with Gilmore admitting she wasn’t sure if she’d win another event.
“Oh my god, I literally didn’t think I was going to win an event this year – I cannot believe I won this event,” she said. “I feel like I just got better and better every heat and I finally pieced it together in the final there.
“I was just accepting the fact that maybe I’m not the best surfer any more on all the free surf days but if I can put it together in a heat, then I can still get there all the way to the end. I seriously didn’t think I could go all the way to a win but if it was ever going to happen somewhere, this is it.”
Winning her first Gold Coast event at Snapper back in 2005 as a 17-year-old schoolgirl wildcard, the now 38-year-old proved she’d lost none of her potency in the final.
Gilmore nailed the result with the best score of the day, with her trademark searing carves and transitions awarded an incredible 9.50.
The men’s final was a tight affair with Ewing taking a narrow lead in the early exchanges with O’Leary, who is a Sydneysider but switched his nationality to Japan in 2023 to honour his mother’s heritage.
O’Leary only needed a score of 6.67 to take the lead and had more than half the heat to find it but neither surfer could improve on their two-wave total with Ewing triumphant 14.56 to 14.17.
The 2023 world title runner-up has had a lean start to the year but hoped the victory, which pushes him to world No.4, could kick-start his campaign.
“I haven’t had a win in like three years and up against Connor, he’s been on fire and is such a good backhand surfer and competitor,” said 27-year-old Ewing, who hails from Stradbroke Island.
“Winning here has been such a big goal of mine as it’s an hour away from home and as a little kid, I used to come down here and watch this event. So this has been at the top of the list to win.
“It’s huge for my campaign, back to work tomorrow but tonight let’s go.”
While Silva missed out on the title, she and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Medina won cars as the dominant surfers through the three-event Australian swing and will both also wear the yellow leader’s jersey at the next tour stop in New Zealand.
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