{"id":126453,"date":"2026-05-05T13:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tracksmag.com.au\/?p=126453"},"modified":"2026-05-06T09:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T23:05:00","slug":"what-its-like-to-join-thousands-on-the-gold-coast-as-ethan-ewing-and-steph-gilmore-win-at-snapper-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tracksmag.com.au\/what-its-like-to-join-thousands-on-the-gold-coast-as-ethan-ewing-and-steph-gilmore-win-at-snapper-rocks","title":{"rendered":"What It\u2019s Like to Join Thousands on the Gold Coast as Ethan Ewing and Steph Gilmore Win at Snapper Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly two weeks straight of rain dumped on the Gold Coast leading into the event. Winter arrived early with the grace of Chernobyl Reactor Four. So when the sun finally held its ground on Friday, the local populace emerged from their homes pale and irritable, making Snapper Rocks feel less like the bronzed Australian playground that we know it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it only took a minute of thawing before the event rolled into Saturday, Sunday and Monday in a golden soymilk haze – sunshine, good sandbanks and exceptional surfing. The long Labour Day weekend was earned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, Rainbow Bay has gotten the nickname \u201cRainbow de Janeiro.\u201d That is to say, there are Brazilian expats everywhere. There is even an unofficial ‘Brazilian Corner’ of the beach, where the rocks begin to round the bend towards Greenmount. The Gold Coast has grown into a regional hotspot for Brazilians looking to uproot for better surf and better work opportunities. Of the alleged 10,000 people on the beach this weekend, it seemed a fair few thousand were speaking Portuguese, gathered in party rings of speakers, smokes and flags. The Gold Coast Pro is almost like a second Saquarema event, if that wasn\u2019t already made obvious last year in the Julian vs. Filipe final at Burleigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitness coach Marcos Freitas, founder of Salt Performance Training and local event coach for Alejo Muniz and Mateus Herdy, moved to the Goldie 22 years ago. \u201cBack at that time, we had less than 1,000 Brazilians here in our community. Now it\u2019s at least five times that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Brazilian cheer squad was out in full force supporting their heroes. Photo: Andrew Shield\/WSL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the surf events, they’re really passionate about it. They put in a lot of effort and want to support and be entertained. Like last year, Julian was yelling to Filipe in the water, like, \u2018What are you doing? Tell these people to settle down.\u2019 And Filipe is like, \u2018What can I do? I can’t do anything.\u2019 It\u2019s just the way they are. It\u2019s like a football field. But I think Australians have been dominating the entire surfing industry for almost 30 years. And Kelly\u2026 With any sport, every country sometimes dominates for so long that they get too comfy. And now we have the Brazilian Storm, and they know what they need to do to get results and bring everything to the next level,\u201d Marcos continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brazilians did well this weekend – they didn\u2019t claim a finals win, but Medina and Luana Silva both won brand new GMW Tank 300\u2019s, while event winners Ethan Ewing and Steph Gilmore won large keychains. Medina, despite getting knocked out by Toledo in Round Three, holds onto the yellow jersey and won the Aussie Treble by points. Luana took runner-up to Steph, but confidently heads to Raglan in yellow for the women\u2019s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two-time event winner Filipe Toledo surfed nobly against Connor O\u2019Leary in the semifinals, as low tide allowed for max capacity Australia vs. Brazil fandom to fizz across the sand. Both men were on fire, but the goofy-footed Lennox man was tasting a rainbow we haven\u2019t seen before, scoring the two highest men\u2019s heat totals of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the other men\u2019s semifinal, Ethan Ewing slaughtered the hero of an entire busload of Burleigh children. The sea of Liam O\u2019Brien cut-out faces fell from the skyline Mary Antoinette style, at the conclusion of a tragically close heat that left one child sulking, \u201cI\u2019m not going to school tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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