What’s the best weapon a CT-level surfer can have in their arsenal? A break. A full tap out from the tour for at least a year — or maybe four. At least that’s what it took to win at Burleigh Heads this year on the men’s side. Maybe since the Gold Coast event had been taking a strategic power nap over the last few years, it decided to reward the surfers who had done the same.
2025 Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro winner Filipe Toledo showed that he is back in full swing after bowing out of last season. As for runner-up Julian Wilson, who stepped away from the CT at the end of 2020, calling it a ‘comeback’ story is would be more than an understatement. He didn’t come off the bench like some B-team dreamer; he came through a wormhole in time like Marty McFly on a hoverboard, high above the young guns below.
In the space of a week 2018-resemblant Julian rode the rainbow train all the way from his kids’ swingset, to winning the trials into the event, to holding a trophy on stage alongside a world champion. The entire Gold Coast was screaming from the sand as he pulled off air after air, each one with a slightly different tweak or grab.
Julian stood with his young daughter, Olivia, by his side last night when I asked him how — on a scale of B vitamins to genies in a bottle — he managed to summon that level of energy. “I used to have these sort of anchor points that I felt like I needed in order to create repetition and create good performances,” he said. “But now I don’t. I was lucky to get to the beach in time for my heats this week, and I had babies crying and kids running both ways. I just let all that old stuff go. I knew that I’ve done it my whole life, and I back my ability.”
“I truly didn’t think I was at this level, though — I had no idea how it would go after this time off,” he added. “But this is my home event, and half of my hometown was here today. It feels more wholesome for me than any other event. I won the Quicksilver Pro in 2018, two weeks after Olivia was born. This time around, I’ve got two more kids here.”
For many CT surfers, the end of the road comes at a fairly obvious point: they hit the age of decline and don’t requalify. But for the ones who can keep going with seemingly no end in sight, the decision to step away on their own accord, and for how long, is a difficult one. We’ve seen it with top dogs like Kelly, Medina, JJF, Caroline, Carissa, Steph, etc.
Filipe won back-to-back world titles in 2022 and 2023, but stepped away in 2024, citing mental health reasons. This was his first event win since coming back this season. Despite the outrageous level of passion and sheer number of Australian surf fans who were at this event, the Brazilian fans were almost a match (the Goldie could be a Baby Rio with the number of Brazilians who now call it ‘home’). The cameras were shaking on Sunday afternoon from their noise, and an etched-in-history-level final played out between Filipe and Julian. Julian was ‘pissed off and fired up’ by the Brazilians, but ultimately, it was Filipe who was lifted up into a giant mob of tattooed arms, which carried him all the way from the beach to the podium. Filipe and Joe Turpel could barely get through on the mic, on account of the Portuguese chanting that would erupt after each emotive outburst from the two-time World Champ.
Toledo was reserved with the media during his time off, but after his win last night, he spoke about the value of taking a break. “I feel like that was the most important decision I’ve ever made in my whole career. Just to be with my family and to take care of my mental health. 2019 was a really, really hard year for me and understanding that, I was like, ‘I need a break now before it gets worse.’ So I was able to realize that, be close to my family, work with professionals, and get my mind ready to come back and do this.”
I then asked him what he would say to the 2024 version of himself who was in the throes of making that decision: He looked down and had a think, his hand in his beard. “You did the right thing,” he concluded. “And thank you for trusting yourself.” A big sea of owl eyes waited for him in the dark — proud fans pushed up against the barricade, ready for a photo.
I gave Julian the same question. 2020 J.W. would be told: “Back yourself. Yeah…” he answered with a slow nod. “…it was a pretty hard decision. Nobody else was doing it. We were in a hard spot living in Australia with a young family, and with the Olympics being pushed back a year. I wouldn’t do it any differently. I think I really needed it for myself. And it feels different now.”
On the women’s side, Bettylou Sakura Johnson took her first-ever CT win against Sally Fitzgibbons. BLSJ said she was able to keep the emotions steady on the climb to the top by: “taking things minute by minute to be present. In the final, I was just like, ‘I’m here to go get it. I’ve made it all the way through now.’ But without too much pressure — just to be hungry for the win.”
Sally Fitzgibbons was the third out of the four finalists of this event to have a hell of a comeback story. Sally has been on the tour for over a decade and a half, but she failed to make the mid-season cut the past two years. She needed to at least make it into the semi-finals at Burleigh in order to have any chance at Margaret River to score above the cutline. She finally started to pick up momentum this season with a fifth place at Bells, which rocketed her into a showdown at Burleigh. Sally’s story became the one to follow.
When asked how she drew all that energy for such a good result, she said: “Well, to paint the picture: to go all out in the first five events, and to do two loops of the world, it absolutely depletes you. You’re so exhausted from believing it’s possible, and then there are no results to show for it. It poses a lot of questions. Then, to sit in that space and still keep working on your surfing, and showing up in one piece, and actually have the creative mind space to be able to go out there and compete… it takes a lot to find that space,” she laughs.
“So, coming out of Bells, I just drove all the way home and just sat in my garden for a little bit. Surfed my soft top out the front of my house. Then flew up here the next day,” she concluded.
Case and point: Burleigh doesn’t want your grindset. Is that a reflection of Australia’s tall poppy syndrome? It’s worth your own experimentation to see if you get better waves there on Adderall or ashwagandha.
