Chosen
Love them or hate them, the WSL Finals are set to make waves again this fall. Lowers is a reliable spot every September, not because it will ever produce anything significant, but because it remains the best wave on the planet. And for the first time ever, fans will be able to see John John Florence compete for a world title there in the new format.
Although Florence is revered for his ability in the world’s heaviest waves, he has no weaknesses in his game. In smaller waves like the Southern California Point, he is still one of the most progressive, consistent, creative and powerful surfers in the world. And considering he’s all but secured the yellow jersey for the WSL Finals with just one event left, you can consider Florence the clear favorite to claim his third world title.
If the rankings in Fiji remain as they are today, local hero Griffin Colapinto needs just one heat win to face Florence in a best-of-three matchup for the title. And while Florence has fans in every corner of the world, Griff is probably the one who would spark a huge outpouring of support from his hometown (and maybe a hype video from Matthew McConaghey to boot).
But the yellow jersey was perfect on the men’s side in the early years of the WSL Finals format, and it’s hard to imagine Florence being the first person to allow a blemish on that record. In all six WSL “best of 3 heats” finals in the men’s division, the top-ranked surfer has won and had at least one outstanding heat result in every single matchup. Filipe Toledo surfed in all of those heats, going 4-0 from pole position in ’22 and ’23 (beating Italo 2-0 and Ethan Ewing 2-0, respectively) and losing 0-2 to Gabriel Medina in the WSL Finals in ’21.
With all of these aspects in mind, John John makes Florence Lowers look like the Banzai Skate Park across from his North Shore home.
