Ethan Ewing’s promising 2023 season is in serious doubt after a spill at Teahupo’o in Tahiti.Credit:Ed Sloane,World Surf League
The 24-year-old Queenslander was taken to shore after coming off at one of the world’s heaviest waves and taken to hospital on the island,where he was diagnosed with a fractured L3 and L4 vertebrae.
It is unclear at this point if Ewing will be cleared to compete in the season-ending final five format in September.
Ewing’s career-best campaign has already qualified him for the Trestles event and,as it stands in the world rankings,he is only trailing defending champion and Brazilian veteran Filipe Toledo.
However,Ewing’s withdrawal from the Tahiti Pro will almost certainly see him drop further down the rankings. Even if he does recover for Trestles,it will put him at a disadvantage given the finals format of a series of knockout heats where the winner progresses to take on the next highest-ranked surfer from the season’s points tally.
Ewing’s rise in 2023 has been forged off the back of ahistoric win at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in April,following in the footsteps of his late mother Helen,who won the same event 40 years earlier at the age of 18.
Two runner-up finishes at the Rio Pro in Brazil and Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa solidified Ewing’s No.2 ranking.