George Pittar, the 21-year-old who was the sensation of the event at Bells even in the heat he lost to Ethan Ewing, considers that he lost his heat well: “I went home and watched him, and I thought he beat me, he got the score, I would have given it to him. His flow is so unmatched that the wave tilted and he made some super clean turns,” he told Stab.

“The first thing I thought on the beach was that I would rather have lost like that than him passing me the towel. I had just seen the end of his wave, so I assumed, of course, that I had gotten the score. And then, I was walking down the beach and everyone was saying all these things to me, like I didn’t deserve the score or something. So, I was quite interested to see him again,” the Australian added.

“Everyone was texting me, just dissing the WSL. I didn’t really think it was that crazy. Obviously, in some people’s minds, it could have worked out for me, and I wish it had. But I don’t know, with those close calls, people love to take it the wrong way. I thought I had won,” she said.

“Honestly, I don’t like how people are so insulting towards the WSL, they’re quick to judge right away. Everyone online always has an opinion. Just let it be. It’s really no big deal. Ethan was doing the kind of surfing I aspire to. I think I made a lot of mistakes in that heat that people didn’t see. He needed a score and he surfed the wave really well. I guess I take the whole situation as a compliment, people love to root for the underdogs,” she concluded.

The Australian said his phone blew up with supportive comments, telling him he deserved to have made it through that series.

Pittar, Stab's note says, was raised in Vanuatu surfing only perfect waves. He later moved to Manly Beach, Sydney.