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Australian surfer Ethan Ewing won the Rip Curl Pro men’s title at Bells Beach 40 years after his late mother Helen won the women’s trophy.<\/span><\/p>\n The World Surf League competition in Victoria, Australia, is the longest-running event in competitive surfing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ewing was six when his mother Helen died in 2005 of breast cancer, aged 39.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’ve been thinking about her since I have been on the tour and it’s been a huge goal of mine. I want to do her proud” said Ewing, 24. <\/span><\/p>\n In 1983, Helen Lambert won the women’s title to confirm her status as a major talent in the sport at the age of just 18. <\/span><\/p>\n Decades later, on matching his mother’s achievement, Ewing added: “I’ve had her trophy next to my bed pretty much my whole life and looked at that and dreamt of it. Seeing her name on the stairs [on the walk towards Bells Beach] and now having my name there is so, so special.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s been my biggest goal in my career to win this. All my heroes have won this – Joel [Parkinson], Mick [Fanning], Kelly [Slater], the girls – Steph [Gilmore], Carissa [Moore], and then my mum back in ’83. It is an honour to compete here. To put my name up there with her – it’s really special.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ewing, 24, beat Brazilian three-time WSL champion Gabriel Medina in the last 16 before dominating in the all-Australian final against Ryan Callinan for his second WSL title.<\/span><\/p>\n He is the first Australian male to win the title since Matt Wilkinson in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n