Both surfers battled mother nature in their tough-fought heats at the Games venue of Teahupo’o on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

With the waves building throughout the session, Jack, from Western Australia, made a slow start, with his first waves scoring under one point. He rallied as the swell built to notch a heat high of 7.17 on his third wave.

He finished with a total of 13.94 to beat John John Florence (USA) on 9.07.

“It feels good. You know, we have a lot of history together,” Jack said.

“Super, super dangerous (conditions). People don't realise it's probably the most dangerous place in the world in there. So yeah, just happy to be all good. 

“I got my wave. It was the craziest wave. It was like the biggest adrenaline rush. But that was super crucial in that moment to get that score.”

A front built throughout Ethan’s heat creating difficult conditions, but the 25-year-old from Stradbroke Island managed to find the one wave in the heat that defied the conditions.

He scored a total of 14.17 with a best wave of 8.67 to defeat Connor O’Leary of Japan who totalled 11.00.

Tyler Wright’s heat against Anat Lelior of Israel in the women’s event was postponed due to poor weather.