Jaggar makes bold call
Plan to win Olympic gold, world title in same year
SNAPPER Rocks surfer and ‘future world number one’ Jaggar Bartholomew may have narrowly missed out on an Usher Cup finals berth, but his eyes remain firmly on an Olympic medal and world title.
The 21-year-old son of world champion and surfing icon Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew narrowly missed out on a quarter-finals place after falling short in his heat with a score of 14.76 – a total higher than several other heat’s top surfers.
But Bartholomew, who took out third in 2022 and second in 2021, said the goal remained the same after going through a mental journey through battle with injury.
“I’ve been going backwards but now I’m in a new place in my life and I’ve got a bulletproof mindset on what I want to achieve in this life and especially this year, and I’m here to conquer,” Bartholomew said.
“(The journey to this new mindset has involved) a lot of pain really, pain and being stoic in the moment and being in the present. I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to get to that world title, to get to that number one in the world, to get millions of dollars, to get all the good life for myself and everyone around me.
“I want to win the Olympic gold and a world title in the same year, I’d be the first one to ever do it.
“I’m always ready to fight and win.”
As the Brisbane 2032 Olympics approach, Bartholomew agreed the Usher Cup’s location of Snapper Rocks was the best place for the surf event, saying it was the best spot in Queensland and “possibly even in the world”.
“It’s so magic what we have here in our backyard, we’re so lucky and I feel like everyone’s so ungrateful for what we do have.
“We’ve got six or seven world class waves all in the stretch of about 30 kilometres.
“It’s always a beautiful place to come.”
In the men’s final, Merewether’s Morgan Cibilic claimed the Usher Cup men’s championship with a score of 16.37 in stunning conditions.
Cibilic, who narrowly missed out on qualification on the Championship Tour, led the heat from the get-go against Noosa’s Ben Lorentson, North Shore’s Alister Reginato and Snapper Rock’s Sheldon Simkus.
“I just want to feel it a little bit more this year, and attack it,” Cibilic said.
“This year was a hard year for me, I felt like I wasn’t con
necting with my turns for six months straight and it wasn’t good for the confidence, which plummeted.
“It’s good to come here and get a win under the belt.”