A mere three months ago, Ethan Ewing broke his back in Tahiti.
The Australian professional surfer was practicing in preparation for the World Surf League’s Championship Tour event, the Shiseido Tahiti Pro, the penultimate stop on the calendar before the one-day, winner-take-all Finals Day at Lower Trestles.
Ewing went down on a seemingly average closeout. But it wasn’t average at all. He fractured L3 and L4 vertebrae. His World Title bid was seriously in question.
But now, like a soldier returning to the field where he fought battle, Ewing has returned to Tahiti to redeem himself following the injury and to reacclimate himself with the wave.
In his caption, EE wrote:
“Definitely more anxious than excited heading back to Tahiti after hitting the reef really hard the last time I surfed Teahupo’o. I felt like I needed to go back as soon as I could to help prepare for next year, but definitely a lot of nerves. It was only a short trip, but I had an amazing time in one of the most incredible environments and I did get some fun waves. Teahupoo is still seriously intimidating, but I feel like I’ve made some steps in the right direction. Thank you to everybody who helped to get me back there.”
Of course, Ewing made a miraculous recovery from the injury, still making it to Finals Day, despite the injury. In the end, he fell to Brazil’s Filipe Toledo, who won his second Title. But he was surfing in fine form, and just showing up was a triumph alone.
And the redemption trip was probably a good idea, too, not just for mental rehabilitation. Ewing will have to get comfortable with Teahupo’o again, as that’s where he’ll be competing when he represents Australia in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
By the looks of that first tube in the clip, he looks just fine.
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