It was an all-Aussie affair in the men’s quarter-finals, with Jack surfing against 25-year-old Ethan Ewing in the must-win round. Scores were evenly poised for much of the quarter-final before the Olympic debutants went wave-for-wave in the final eight minutes of the contest. The two Aussies from opposite sides of the country were unrelenting in their pursuit of a semi-final spot.

Scoring based on their best two rides, West Australian Jack held the lead with just 30 seconds remaining, meaning Queenslander Ethan needed to pull out something big. However, the Teahupo'o swell denied Ethan, who left his run too late. Jack won with a total of 15.33 to Ethan’s 13.00.

Jack will meet Brazilian Gabriel Medina in the semi-final, with a place in the gold medal match awaiting the winner.

Tyler Wright headed out after the men, taking on Carolyn Marks of the USA. The round got off to a slow start, with Australia's two-time world champion nursing grazes and bruising from earlier heats at the hands of the infamous Teahupo'o reef.

The heat came down to the final five minutes, the American with her nose in front before a set approached with under two minutes to go. Tyler wasn't able to take advantage, the clock beating the Australian. A score of 5.37 was not good enough to beat Marks on 7.77, the 30-year-old from Nowra in NSW knocked out of the competition.

Jack will compete in Heat 2 of the semi-finals on 3 August at 3:30 AEST. Regardless of the result, he will surf again—either in the bronze or gold medal match.

Bridget Tilley