Finals day was an eventful one at the Billabong Pipe Masters. A world champion was crowned – one John John Florence. Or perhaps his crown never left his head. Is that how it happens when you go back to back? Jeremy Flores became a pipe master for the second time in his career. Griffin Colapinto became the first Californian Vans Triple Crown champ. And lest we forget the moment Gabriel Medina (effectively, we should add) used his priority to block Kelly Slater’s scoring potential on a Backdoor screamer.
But permit us to return to that historic day for a moment to review one of its more innocuous moments. In his round 5 heat against Gabriel Medina, Kelly paddled into a decent-size wave at Backdoor and fell making the drop. Upon further inspection, Pete Mel pointed out that a turtle was duck diving said wave and may have distracted Kelly. And while a turtle duck diving to distract the GOAT sounds like the second verse of Old MacDonald Had a Farm, this moment was indeed one that could not be scripted.
