Back in August, Jeremy Flores announced that he planned to step away from full-time competition on the Championship Tour. He chose his words carefully, though, and “stepping away” was a purposeful turn-of-phrase. “I don’t like the word ‘retiring’ because I don’t feel like I’m retiring at all,” Flores said at the time on Instagram. “I’m moving on to the next chapter.”
The announcement was a blow to pro surfing fans, especially those of a generation that admired some of the rawness the tour boasted in previous years. Now, it’s a little more professional, a little more structured; the surfers are more like… well, more like athletes. Flores was a hold-out from the days when surfers spoke their minds, for better or worse. He charged just about as hard as anyone on tour, with multiple Pipe Masters to prove it as well as an Andy Irons Most Committed Award and a win at the 2015 Billabong Pro Tahiti, where the conditions weren’t suitable for regular human beings.
Now, though, Flores’ attention has shifted from global travel to his family. “High level sports is no joke. There are a lot of things people don’t see behind the scenes,” he wrote. “It’s intense, it takes so much energy. Since I became a father, my priority totally changed. I want to be 100 percent there for my family. The last few years I haven’t been putting enough effort to be my best version of an athlete. I didn’t have that fire anymore. It was getting hard to keep up with the new generation who are training so freaking hard.”
Flores is a man that other surfers look up to. Young or old, he’s the guy when it comes to barreling waves. He was a staple of the Tour for years, which is why the World Surf League set up an expression session in his honor. The Jeremy Flores Rendez-Vous Expression Session at Les Culs Nus went down in fun surf. Some of the world’s best wore jerseys with “#Merci Jeremy” on their backs.
“I’ve never seen so many legends of all the generations together,” said Mason Ho before the session. “This is a special moment. Jeremy got us all together… he’s the guy we all wanted to be like. When I was younger, he was the kid that all the kids wanted to be. He set the bar for my generation.”
And so, for a sunny hour on a Saturday afternoon, Jeremy Flores did what he lives to do: surf with some of his best friends in front of an adoring crowd. We’ll miss Flores’ passion on the tour, but we couldn’t be happier for him now that he’s made the decision to dedicate time to his family.
“I’m stoked to see all my friends, you know?” he said from the beach after the session. “All these years on tour, you become friends and you become family with a lot of the guys and the girls. And of course all my childhood friends that are here. A lot of the French people are here, too, so it’s cool… Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout my career and supported me through all my ups and downs; all my little crazy moments in my career. But it’s just the next chapter. I just stopped competing, but you’ll hear about a few more little projects I’ll be working on.”
