Coast’s sole male surfing hope

Meet the only Gold Coast male left on the WSL Championship Tour.

JACK Freestone is the sole Gold Coast male flying the flag on the World Surf League Championship Tour since the retirement of world champs Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson.

The Tugun-based father of two-year-old son Banks has his partner Alana Blanchard back on the World Tour after grabbing the last spot on the World Qualifying Series.

Freestone, who won ASP World Junior titles in 2010 and 2012, qualified for the men’s championship tour in 2016.

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Despite some good results, his inconsistency saw the strapping 185cm natural-footer fall off the World Tour.

This is not an uncommon occurrence for first year qualifiers but then to requalify via the rigorous WQS series is another ball game entirely.

The son of former rugby league player Scott, who played 44 games for Cronulla and Gold Coast, and with a sporting mum Katy, Jack had the competitive genes necessary to fight his way back in events that count, namely the 10,000 WQS events.

Jack Freestone and his 2 year old baby boy Banks at Haleiwa, Hawaii balancing parent duties with professional surfing. Please give full credit to photo by Heff/WSL.

Jack’s first break was in South Africa with a runner-up position and then a third in Spain giving him a glimmer of hope but he would have to finish off strongly in the final two Hawaiian 10,000 events.

The pressure must have been intense and the first event at Haleiwa didn’t go his way, bowing out in the third round in an equal 33rd.

So it was down to the final event at Sunset Beach, held in powerful double to triple head

shifting peaks that had suited Jack in the past.

North Stradbroke Island’s Ethan Ewing had also fallen off the tour and was locked in for a final fight to qualify but fell short when eliminated in the early rounds.

Jack now had a shot to bypass Ewing for the 10th qualifying spot and by reaching the

quarter-finals Jack’s comeback was complete.

Wildcard Alana Blanchard. Picture: WSL

The first official word that Jack had requalified was announced proudly by his Hawaiian partner Alana on Instagram, much to the delight to fans worldwide and the Gold Coast.

Treated like rockstar royalty, the couple have thousands of social media followers, and perhaps two of the most famous couples in the surfing world.

They epitomise the new surfing superstars – with baby Banks in tow.

Blanchard was granted a wildcard entry in the women’s final event at Honolua Bay, creating a massive upset by defeating No.2 Lakey Peterson that paved the way for Stephanie Gilmore’s seventh world title.

At the annual prestigious Surfer Magazine Poll awards in Hawaii, Alana was voted as best women surfer in the world and Jack was voted as the No.2 male behind Hawaii’s John John Florence.

This year’s WSL’s Snapper Rocks event – now renamed the Gold Coast Pro – starts later in April when Jack turns 27. Now that would be a nice bonus present to win first event of the year.