Via World Surf League
MEREWETHER BEACH, Newcastle, NSW (Sunday, February 1, 2026) – Today, Milla Coco Brown (AUS) and Lucas Hickson (AUS) won the Kim Burton Pro Junior, the opening event of the 2026 season for the World Surf League (WSL) Australia/Oceania Junior Qualifying Series (JQS). Merewether Beach delivered fun surf in the two-to-three-foot range for the second event in the 40th anniversary celebrations of Surfest Newcastle. The conditions set the stage for the region’s best juniors to compete for valuable ranking points as the race toward qualification for the 2026 WSL World Junior Championships officially began.
The successful run of Milla Coco Brown (AUS) continued today as the 18-year-old from Sydney’s Northern Beaches claimed her fourth Pro Junior victory. After winning the Let’s Surf Lake Mac Pro Junior for a second time to close out the 2025 Australia/Oceania JQS season, Brown made it back-to-back Pro Junior wins to move to the top of the rankings for the new year. Between the two events, she also helped lead Australia to team gold at the ISA World Junior Championship in Peru, earning the silver medal in the U/18 division. Now, Brown is primed in her campaign to compete in the WSL World Junior Championships for the first time.
“Thanks to Kim Burton for putting on such a good event and the girls for a fun Final,” Brown said. “I’m pretty happy to win. It was pretty fun, but tough conditions, so I was stoked to lock back into comp mode after free surfing for a couple of months. Good way to kick off 2026.”
A strong southerly change blew through ahead of the men’s Semifinals, seeing the women’s Final open as largely a battle of single turns. Brown took command from the start with two rides in the 4-point range, before finding a long open face that allowed her to unleash down the line and post a 6.67. A back-up 6.00 from an aggressive single turn provided a 12.67 heat total that closed the door on her opponents.
Kingscliff’s Ava Arghyros (AUS) placed runner-up in her first Pro Junior Final, with Lennox Head’s Ocea Curtis (AUS) matching her third place finish in the 2023 Let’s Surf Lake Mac Pro Junior and Margaret River’s Ruby Berry (AUS) backing up her first-ever WSL Final at the Florence Pipe Pro QS 2000 in December with her first Pro Junior Final.
The sole Victorian in a Final filled with Queensland residents, Lucas Hickson (AUS) earned his first-ever WSL win. The 19-year-old had previously only won two Pro Junior heats across five appearances, both in prior years of the event. This year, the reigning Victorian State Champion from Mornington Peninsula won all five heats he surfed, defeating many higher seeds along the way.
“I’m just happy to make a heat,” Hickson said. “The shorey was pretty fun, but the waves were pretty tricky for the finals. I’d like to thank all the boys for letting me stay on the couch. I didn’t really have anything sorted out, so thanks to them.”
Another first-time Pro Junior Finalist, Gold Coast’s Leo Matchett (AUS), took an early lead in the men’s Final, posting a 6.33 for a tail-high air reverse. Hickson slowly built throughout the 25 minute match-up, finally taking the lead with six minutes remaining. A 5.97 for a two-turn combo on the tall regular-footer’s forehand added to an existing 5.50 for an 11.47 heat total that knocked Matchett into second. Will Martin (AUS) and Darcy Dwyer (AUS) fought hard but were unable to break out of the 4-point range, placing third and fourth, respectively.
