John John Florence has turned the corner, and has next year’s title squarely in his sights. Photo: ASP | Kirstin
John John Florence’s second world tour win at France was undoubtedly the most telling of his career and the surest sign yet that the arrow on his attitude meter is flickering from SHOWMAN to CHAMPION. He said as much after the final, batting away talk of making a run at this year’s title, though revealing he’s already setting his sights on next year’s.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of guys about the title and they all say that the title campaign actually starts the year before,” he said. “I’m hoping for a few more good results this season to really make a run for it in 2015.”
Victory in France is the best possible start. Widely regarded as the toughest event on tour to win, this year was classically French, putting competitors through the full range of conditions — from fat, fluffy rip bowls to intimidating eight foot shifting peaks, and everything between. The going was tough, even for John John. “The conditions look amazing but can be all over the place out there,” he said on the final day, which was characterized by a huge, unruly ocean with glimmers of perfection.
It’s no secret that John John has an affinity for French beach breaks. They favor his acute wave knowledge and intuition, two characteristics for which he is mostly unrivaled on tour, having grown up surfing the most treacherous wave on earth, Pipeline, from the age of eight. The other man most likely to challenge him for the Quik Pro crown, Mick Fanning — the most winningest man in the history of the event — came up against him in round five. The result was a big defeat for Fanning, with John John racking up a near perfect 19.90 out of 20 as he scooped into bomb after bomb; executing deft fades in gut-wrenching positions, washing speed of where he needed to, and, basically, navigating the unpredictable French barrels like no other. It was some performance. In fact, he would have still beaten Fanning with his two back up scores. The Hawaiian was in a league of his own and was able to get himself to wherever he needed to be in the raging conditions. It proved the difference time and time again on the final day, with John John able to position himself in the tube in a way no competitor could match; not Josh Kerr in their semi-final — despite being given two genuine chances to knock John John out, he off too wide on the first barrel and then too deep on the second, getting clamped and failing to make it out.
At other times John John displayed the competitive grit he believes will shoot him to the top of next year’s title race, making a nine out of what look like an otherwise, fat, foamy, french burger to oust world number ten Kolohe Andino in the quarters.
He simply outclassed Jadson Andre in the final, but what a performance it was from the Brazilian battler. The kid from the slums of Rio Grande Do Norte (in Brazil’s north) began his career with remarkable upset win over Kelly Slater in the final of the 2010 Santa Catarina Pro, Brazilian World Tour event. He fell off tour shortly thereafter but re-qualified this year on the back of a tenacious competitive strategy and his rock solid beach-break savvy. Both were on show in France, with his win over Jordy in the semi finals featuring one of the turns of the event — a crazy backside snap under the lip, timed perfectly so as to put him right in the pocket as a few hundred liters of Atlantic came sheeting over him.
The other Brazilian worth watching in the draw, world number one Gabriel Medina, was upset in the quarters, opening the door for second-placed Kelly Slater to reel in his ratings lead. But the champ couldn’t convert, losing out in the same round to Jordy Smith. And so we head to Portugal with the same situation: Medina is on a tight rope heading into the final three events. One early round loss and he’ll be counting a 13th in his results. Slater has an extra buffer, with only one 13th. If Medina finishes 13th or worse in the next event and Slater gets second, he’ll be a mere 250 points behind. If Slater wins and Medina gets a 13th or worse, Slater will take the lead.
It was a jovial Slater who turned out to front the media, calmly lamenting a frustrating year for him so far. “I struggled this event,” the 11-time world champion said. “It’s funny, I’m in second [in the title race], but I feel like I’ve struggled to find real consistency in any event this year.”
That may be, but with Medina only needing to stumble once from hereon in, and Slater needing only to win an event, there’s still hope for him. Medina will be hoping to wrap up the title in Portugal because if it goes to Pipe and King Kelly’s still got a shot, it might be more pressure than the 21 year old can bare.
