Defending Vans Triple Crown of Surfing champion John John Florence dominated his heat Saturday and looked untouchable on the third day of the Reef Hawaiian Pro.
In clean waves in the 4- to 6-foot range at Haleiwa, Florence scored a combined heat total of a 16.90 (out of 20) as well as the second-highest single wave score of the day at 9.40 (out of 10) for one incredible 360 aerial maneuver.
"I paddled out this morning and I saw a couple of really good (air) sections and it was kind of in the back of my mind the whole time," said Florence. "I knew there wasn’t much time left, so I just went for it."
Florence is finishing his first full year of competition on the ASP World Tour (currently ranked fourth) and is the local favorite to win the Triple Crown.
"There is a little pressure (to defend the Triple Crown title), but mostly I’m just glad to be home," Florence said. "I’ve been gone all year — just surfing my own waves at home and sleeping in my own bed is the best thing ever."
The most anticipated heat of the day was the eighth in the round of 64, featuring 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia. It was a hard-fought battle between the two old rivals, with neither surfer giving the other an inch. Slater surfed with finesse and Garcia relied on brute strength. In the end, Slater came out on top, with Garcia in second and both surfers advancing.
"There were a few fun waves out there," Slater said. "It was kind of slow and really tough because it’s like a game of chess in the beginning. You play this kind of cat and mouse at the beginning of the heat, then based on who gets the best score in the first exchange they control the heat. Sunny got the best (score) in the first exchange, so he just paddled right past us, because at that point he had nothing to lose."
Slater came back toward the end of the heat, scoring an 8.17 and a 6.43 on back-to-back waves to take the win.
Garcia was pulling double duty, as he was also in the Reef Clash of the Legends event. It featured Garcia, Tom Curren, Mark Occhilupo and Hawaii’s Kaipo Jaquias. Garcia won the event by using his patented brand of power surfing. He was smiling ear to ear and was stoked to win the event for the second consecutive time.
