FLORENCE John John

Preferred stance
Regular (worldsurfleague.com, 20 Dec 2019)

General
BEATING KELLY SLATER
In December 2019, five months after returning from his knee surgery, he defeated Kelly Slater in the semifinals at Pipe Masters to claim the final US men's Olympic spot. "When I first jumped in the water a couple of weeks before surfing in the Pipe Masters, I felt like I just could not even surf. I definitely wouldn't have surfed [if Olympic qualification was not on offer]. And after [qualifying], I stopped surfing again for another month and a half just to get my injury in check. My relationship with Kelly has always just been that he's this person that I've always looked up to and gained inspiration from. [But] I got a kick out of it [beating Slater]. He has been winning world titles since I was born. To me, it was kind of a dream in a way, to be competing against this guy who has been the best surfer in the world for the past 25 years. He gave me a hug after and it was congratulations and stuff like that. Other than that, there wasn't too much talk about the Olympics." (usatoday.com, 12 Nov 2020; nytimes.com, 19 Dec 2019; olympicchannel.com, 13 Nov 2020)

INJURY REHAB REFUELS PASSION
Two serious injuries to his knee limited him to three months of competitive surfing during 2019, but he says that his time out of the water allowed him to re-discover his love for the sport, while the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021 allowed him more time to recover from his latest knee surgery. "When you are competing for so many years in a row non-stop, you lose perspective on why you are competing. So last year [2018] when I [first] got injured, I was bummed out but also able to take a step back and take a break from thinking about competing for a few months. Once I started thinking about surfing again, I was having so much fun with training. It felt like when you're a kid [again]. [Following the postponement] I've had so much time to get my knee to where I wanted it to be and, more importantly, I've had so much time to get my mind to where I wanted it to be, and just think about and find the why of why I wanted to compete. I think change can be a good thing a lot of the time, you learn through change. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm very excited about competing again." (usatoday.com, 12 Nov 2020; espn.co.uk, 21 Aug 2019)

JOHN JOHN
His birth name was John Alexander Florence. He was named after John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former US president John F. Kennedy, who was often referred to as 'John John'. His mother had been moved by John F. Kennedy Jr.'s military salute on the day of his father's funeral and decided to name her first son after him. "My real name is straight John. My mum called me 'John John' after John F. Kennedy Jr., and it stuck. I'm OK with whatever people want to call me, though. Some know me as 'Two Johns'. It's pretty funny." (surfertoday.com, 01 Jan 2020; outsideonline.com, 21 Jun 2016; xgames.com, 04 Mar 2014)

ODD HOBBIES
Away from surfing he has several hobbies, including sailing and beekeeping, which he says often stem from sudden urges to do something different. In 2020 a four-part documentary was released of a month-long 2500-mile sailing trip in the Pacific ocean he took with his younger brother. "We're completely off the grid. It was a month-long trip with no refuelling. We're using all our renewables like solar and hydro generation on the boat. From [the first time I sailed], I was hooked. I had to get my own little boat. I've [also] always had a fascination with bees, and once I found out you can have a hive in your back yard I was like, 'I've got to have one of these'. I guess I find these little hobbies and I just latch onto them. Like, 'I need to do this right now'." (rollingstone.com, 26 Aug 2019; fastcompany.com, 22 Apr 2020)

In 2011 he became the youngest ever competitor at the time to win the World Cup of Surfing. (stabmag.com, 11 Dec 2019; dahui.com, 24 Oct 2016)

At age 13 he became the youngest ever surfer at the time to compete in the Triple Crown of Surfing. (dahui.com, 24 Oct 2016)