Hailing from Australia’s Gold Coast, Ellie-Jean Coffey is a rising surf phenom. But there’s more to her than just a spot on Playboy‘s Hottest Surfer Babe list and a massive following on Instagram. At just 20-years-old, Ellie-Jean is ascending the ranks in the women’s WQS series. She has high hopes of one day taking home the top honors on the Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour – a goal that is not farfetched by any means.
In a new series from Cos We Can titled ‘Over the Rainbow,’ we’re dropped inside the complex life of Ellie. On top of the regular struggles of growing up, Ellie faces hurdles with her career and tenuous relationship with women’s surfing as a whole. On one hand, she’s been shot in the spotlight for her gorgeous surfer girl image, yet on the other, she wants to be taken seriously as an athlete and not just a pretty face.
The series, which will ultimately involve four parts, is a breath of fresh air in the current landscape of online surf cinema. Instead of merely watching Ellie surf and look pretty, we get a feel for who she is as a person and the everyday issues she’s presented with. For instance, after she’s knocked out of the Super Girl Pro in Oceanside, CA, Ellie was asked to interview her fellow competitors. It was a strange moment for her, no doubt, and the video delves into this complexity.
“It is very good to know that I’m a woman that’s capable of multiple things,” Ellie says. “But there’s a bit of me that’s angry because I feel like I’m on the wrong side of the microphone.”
Be sure to keep an eye out for the future installments of “Over the Rainbow” – We know we will. Check out part one above and part two here:
