Florence is carried off the beach by his fans at home. Photo: Courtesy of Steve Sherman/WSL
Hawaiian-born John John Florence won the 2017 World Surf League Championship yesterday at the Billabong Pipe Masters on Monday, repeating as the world champion just steps from his home on the North Shore of Oahu.
Unlike in past years where champs have been crowned at an event earlier in the season (last year Florence clinched the title at the penultimate event in Portugal), the 25-year old clinched at the last event of the year, when France’s Jeremy Flores beat Brazilian Gabriel Medina in the quarter finals.
For his part, Florence whooped Julian Wilson, then beat Ian Gouveia in the semis and surfed brilliantly in the final against Jeremy Flores. It wasn’t a day of raging Pipe bombs. Florence showed his skills and experience by threading long Backdoor barrels, capping a few off with blistering frontside bashes. Though the final started quiet, he eventually managed a 6.67 and built on that to an 8.93 and a 7.23. It was classic JJF–knowing the reef, picking the right waves, staying in the barrel for as long as humanly possible, and making clean exits.
Meanwhile, Flores struggled, only catching three waves. Festivities were getting started from the Turtle Bay Resort to the streets of Haleiwa and every food truck in between. As the seconds ticked down, JJF was about to also take his first Pipe Masters crown in a day that was scripted from the start.
But Jeremy Flores had apparently not read the script. He ad-libbed his own conclusion.
Florence has long been heralded as the future of the sport. Photo: Courtesy of Damien Poullenot/WSL
With 19 seconds left in the final, Flores took off, put himself deep into a crystal barrel, travelled and came out with a flurry of excited hand gestures. He was still standing in the whitewater when the horn went. It wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to happen, but a little drama before the second round of champagne corks couldn’t hurt. After all, Flores would need an 8.27.
The judges gave Flores an 8.33 for the second Pipe Masters win of his career.
“Are you kidding? Winning the Pipeline Masters, against John John Florence? In the last seconds? That’s the best way to win. I couldn’t think of any better way to win this Pipe Masters,” Flores said, somewhat shocked on the WSL webcast.
Flores, of France, grew up surfing the French Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. He qualified for the Tour in 2006 and has maintained his spot for 11 years, finishing 9th in 2010, the year he won the Pipe Masters, and finished 8th in 2015. He has excelled in the bigger wave venues around the world, but never really been a title contender. This year, his best result was a fifth at Trestles. Yesterday, he spoiled Medina’s chance at the world title and Florence’s Pipe win.
“Congrats to John John and Gabriel. Those guys are next level,” added Flores. “But that was my goal–to win this event.”
While a win at Pipe Masters still eludes Florence, he was happy to share the spotlight with Flores. Photo: Courtesy of Steve Sherman/WSL
Four surfers came into this event with a chance to take the title: Florence, Medina, Jordy Smith from South Africa and Julian Wilson of Ausrtralia.
Smith bowed out to Kelly Slater in Round Three, and Wilson–who surfed impeccably in 2017–took a beating from JJF in the quarters. Gabriel Medina was on fire, able to come out of Backdoor barrels on his backhand better than any of the other goofyfoots before eventually losing to Flores.
It was certainly an odd turn of events. Florence has been a darling of the surf world since he was ten years old. He surfed his first Pipe Masters at the age of 16 and has won the WQS Volcom Pipeline Pro four times. Last year, he won the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau at Waimea Bay and the world title. This year, he took the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, setting new standards for performance surfing in heavy waves. Winning the world title was a notch, but he’d done that before.
“I’ve been really, really enjoying every moment of it. So, when I was coming into Pipe, I was like ‘We’re already at Pipe. I’m leading, but there’s a little bit of pressure from Gabe.’ He’s such an amazing surfer and fierce competitor. His comeback in Europe was amazing,” admitted Florence. “It would have been cool if it was a final for the title. That would have been fun.”
His sportsmanship was admirable, even joking at the award ceremony about Flores sneaking the win. But he left the beach on Monday still without that coveted Pipe Masters trophy, which makes the prospects of 2018 already more interesting.
About The Author
stash member Jon Coen
Jon Coen is a freelance content producer. Although he has traveled much of the world on a dirty shoestring, he always returns to his native New Jersey covering travel, surf, music, enviro issues, and tattoo culture. Chasing barrels and blue claws.