John John Florence: Surfing World Champion

John John Florence has been hailed as one of the greatest surfers of all time. A major force in Hawaiian surfing, he won two consecutive World Championships in 2016 and 2017. He was also the Triple Crown of Surfing Champion five times between 2011 and 2021.

The 30-year-old has come back after a multitude of injuries, including a ripped cruciate ligament, to defy the odds. The Honolulu-born pipe surfer was also the youngest-ever winner of the Vans World Cup of Surfing at the age of 19.

Who is John John Florence?

Born in October 1992, in Hale’iwa, John Florence is better known as John John. Legend has it he was named after John F Kennedy Jnr – the son of America’s 35th president, John F Kennedy. JFK Jnr was often referred to as “John John” in the press.

Florence grew up in an ocean-side house at Banzai Pipeline, the world-famous surf reef break at Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea. He never had any fear of the ocean and first rode a surfboard at just six months old, helped by his mother, Alexandra.

The oldest of four brothers, he was surfing on his own by the time he was five. He also taught himself snowboarding and skateboarding. As a youth, he won five amateur surf competitions, starting in 2003 with the 1st NSSA Nationals Open Mini Grom at the age of 11. He also won the 1st NSSA Nationals Open Boys’ contest and became the Explorer Menehune Champion in 2005.

He attracted international media attention at the age of 13, when he became the youngest surfer to enter the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing at 13. Weighing just 85lbs and standing 4ft 11 ins tall, Florence braved the trio of big-wave surfing contests in Hawaii.

Competing against surfers who were twice his age, with many more years’ experience, he didn’t get past the first round. However, he achieved a higher score then pro-surfer Shane Dorian, who was 20 years his senior. Afterwards, Florence said he was happy with how he performed.

Major surfing achievements

Florence won the prestigious Eddie Aikau Invitational, founded in memory of the late surfing legend and lifeguard Eddie Aikau,I n February 2016 at Waimea Bay. It was the first time in seven years that the event had been held.

Florence became one of the only ten surfers to have ever won. Known as “The Eddie”, the contest was created in 1984. However, it can be held only when the open-ocean swells are a minimum 20ft high.

When the waves are big enough, surfers choose between 28 and 40 of their peers to compete during the competition window, which spans from 1st December and the end of February. Florence became the ninth winner at the age of 23.

Career-threatening injuries

For many, suffering a serious injury would signal the end of their sporting career. Not only did Florence survive, but he came back stronger.

In 2016, he suffered a fractured vertebrae in his lower spine. The injury occurred on the wave itself, rather than on the reef, while surfing on some of the North Shore’s best waves near his home. He took off on a wave that looked mellow, according to photographer Daniel Russo, who witnessed the incident.

However, the swell was building and the waves that were 8ft high had the energy of a 15-footer. Russo said the waves were “not normal” that day. Florence was deep in the barrel when it hit the sandbar end section.

The wave tripled in size on the impact, but rather than barrelling over, it went straight down “like a waterfall”, according to Russo. Florence was crouched low in the barrel, appearing “glued to his board”, when the whole wave and all its energy landed on his back, causing serious injury.

Florence later said “something didn’t feel right” as he came up. He felt so weak, he couldn’t even grab his board. He dipped under the water again but popped up and managed to “flop” onto his board. Unable to paddle, he was rescued by two fellow surfers who saw him struggling.

After recovering from the back fracture, he then suffered a knee injury during a freesurf at the Corona Bali Protected, a 2018 World Surf League event that took place between 27th May and 9th June at Keramas Beach in Bali.

He was out of action for much of 2019 with the injury, missing some of the World Surf League Men’s Champion Tour, but he managed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. The Games were then postponed for a year due to the Covid pandemic.

In early May 2021, Florence revealed he had hurt his knee in the Margaret River WSL event. Returning home for treatment, he said it was an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Only months before the rescheduled Olympic Games, it seemed doubtful he would be able to compete.

However, he seemed indestructible once again when he posted on social media that he was recovering well from ACL surgery at the end of May. Specialists had reattached the end of his ligament to the femur.

Miraculously, he made it to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which began on 23rd July 2021. He made it to a respectable third round before being knocked out by Kolohe Andino, his teammate.

Pyzel surfboards

Florence rides Pyzel surfboards – the brand founded by Hawaii-based surfer and surfboard shaper Jon Pyzel. He has created a wide variety of surfboard shapes and models, after starting his board shaping career on Oahu’s North Shore.

Proud to be an official UK manufacturer of Pyzel surfboards, Ocean magic was appointed by Pyzel to make the world-renowned boards here at our factory in Newquay, Cornwall. Maintaining the high standards and keeping up to speed with the latest innovations, we manufacture and sell The Ghost – the Pyzel design that led Florence to his second world title.

In addition, we also sell Futures Fins and JJF by Pyzel softops which have been designed and tested by the man himself.

Living legend’s “Zen-like” attitude

The surfer’s indomitable spirit and positive attitude always prevail, which is probably the reason he has made it back to peak performance after his injuries.

He has been surfing the notorious Portuguese wave known as Sete Bafos – which translates to The Cave – where rocks can be seen sticking up out of the water. It is considered Portugal’s most dangerous, yet thrilling surf spot.

After suffering a recurrence of a knee injury in 2022, rather than recuperating on dry land, he decided to spend his rehab sailing the 3,000-mile ocean voyage from his home in Hawaii to Fiji. The journey was packed with unpredictable weather and some scary moments, but Florence took it all in his stride.

Friends have described him as a “living legend”, not only because of all his big victories, but also because of his “Zen-like approach” to surfing.