John John Florence Wins 2012 Volcom Pipe Pro
Wave magnet. The phrase speaks for itself. And most great surfers have tasted its inexplicable aura at one time or another. Slater’s got it. Jamie O’Brien too. But most recently, John John Florence has been blessed with major mojo at the Banzai.
“John John has been a wave magnet the past few years out here and that winning wave just sucked right to him,” O’Brien admitted, visibly baffled by Florence’s late-heat comeback — which saw a perfect 10 and then a winning 9.93 during the last tick of the 35 minute final.
“My friends have been calling me a wave magnet lately,” Florence sheepishly grinned. “But I just have long arms like Jamie.”
Truth be told: Jamie O’Brien had the final on lock from the first five minutes until the very last second, scoring three nine-point-plus drainers. And Florence had been out of sorts for most of the event with a sore neck and stitches in his hand.
“I was barely making heats the entire event with just tiny insiders,” Florence revealed. “Today, I had a horrible heat early and then the waves kinda cleaned up and, going through heats, I just forgot about everything and just went for the best.”
Bruce Irons pushes the eject button
This was an amazing event. Hats off to Volcom for scoring epic conditions and swell for this contest. You couldn’t have asked for a more exciting finish, either.