Third times a charm for professional surfer John John Florence, who won his third Volcom Pipe Pro surf competition. The contest took place over three days in which some of the world’s best surfers pushed each other into barrels at the famous surf spot, Pipe Line. The 124 surfers were eliminated down to the final four, which were John John Florence, Chris Ward, Josh Kerr, and Olamana Eleogram. Ward who was 2nd behind Florence and the only other surfer to beat him in an earlier round of the contest, “I’m not sure what it’d take to beat him…It does take a lot of skill… he’s a phenomenal surfer. I’ve been watching him surf since he was 8 years old. He deserves the win. But I was happy to get tubed and get this far,” reports Surfline. The scores were close. All four of the surfers came within less than a three-point range leaving just a point between each surfer. After Florence’s win, he said, “Yesterday was the best day I’ve seen at Pipe all year. Maybe it was because there were only four guys out, but I had a lot of fun in my heat. Today was a lot smaller and peaky. It was definitely more of a battle.”Florence took home the $20,000 prize followed by Ward getting a $10,000, Kerr getting $6,500 and Eleogram getting $4,440, reports Transworld Surf Magazine. BYU-Hawaii students attended the competition and were thrilled with the results. “The heat with John John, J.O.B. [Jamie O’Brien], Bruce [Irons] and Reef was like watching the highlight reel to a surf flick. It’s the kind of stuff that inspires video games. John John Throwing Airs into the flats at backdoor made my pupils freak out and only Jamie would hit a pipe switch in the contest. I’m stoked on Florence getting a threepeat at pipe. What a stallion. What a stallion,” said Dallas Porter, a senior and business major with an emphasis in supply chain management from Huntington Beach, Calif.Jon Hooke, a sophomore and business major from Ventura Calif., said while throwing his hands in the air, “Watching the Pipe Pro had almost the same affect on me as eating a Del Taco grilled chicken burrito. It was amazing.”
Writer: Lisa Tuttle~Multimedia Journalist
