Phew Life is Back to Normal!!! Covid is Behind Us
Welp the 2021 WSL season has begun, and in fantastic fashion we might add. The Pipe Masters saw John John Florence beat Gabby Medina in the final, and this signifies that all is right and we will soon be back to normal. After all was said and done the 3 best surfers in the world were in the final four along with a 48 year old demigod in Kelly Slater. It lines up perfectly with the announcement of a vaccine coming soon. Which promises to end our 10 month hell that is the Covid Pandemic. You can all stop agonizing daily about where you’re going to eat or how you’re going to pay rent. The surfing world has brought on a signal of return to regularity. You are all welcome. Right???
Well that might be a stretch but here’s for hoping. Let’s get into the comp itself.
The surf… was meh. There were a few heats spread out through the comp where it was classic Pipe barrels with scores above 8, see Jack Robinson vs. Julian Wilson, or John John Florence vs. Leo Fioravanti, but the large majority of heats saw scores of 4, 5, and 6. More like scores you would see at Trestles than Pipe. Interestingly the tour will wrap at Trestles this year. So we will revisit and compare scores at the end of the year. Not surprising that the most experienced Pipe surfer on the tour would be able to use some cunning heat strategy to get through to the finals. Yes Kelly’s heat against Jack Robinson was a gleaming example of strategy over raw talent. Kelly even called out all of Jack’s mistakes in his post heat. Jack still looks like an early threat to everyone, resembling a young AI, but will have to settle with a 9th place finish.
The final four seemed like the WSL orchestrators pulled the strings to get the tour off to the right start. A rematch of last years final at Pipe with Gabby and Italo, and Kelly vs. John John which felt like a free surf. Let’s start with Kelly and John John. These two have a tenuous history. John John Florence came out of an injury last year to spoil Kelly’s chance at the Olympics that never happened. See Tokyo Rising. Kelly never outright said it but you know he was pissed about that. Kelly has also mentioned several times how much he relishes the chance to surf against JJF at Pipe. He got his chance in 2011 and managed to beat a young Florence. This year John John got his revenge and the trophy.
Italo and Gabby as aforementioned met last year in the Pipe Finals in a heat that would decide the tour champ for 2019. Italo outmatched Gabriel Medina by basically doing his best Gabriel impression catching the first wave, and then repeating until the heat was decided. This year Gabriel got the better of Italo. We hope to see this all season this year. It would be so much fun.
The final provided what we all were begging for. Gabriel Medina vs. John John Florence. The two most gifted surfers in the world (along with Italo). We have been starved of this rivalry with JJF’s injury. But we all know these are the two we want to see. The new Kelly vs. Andy. Gabriel struck first, and led for most of the heat. It started to feel like another Gabriel Pipe win. Then with 6 minutes left and without priority, John John snuck a Pipe left from Gabriel that initially looked like it wouldn’t be enough. Gabriel went on the wave after and Gabby couldn’t make it out of the barrel. John got the score he needed, and Gabriel did not have an answer. John John Florence got his first Pipe victory in a scrappy final against Gabriel Medina. Next up we will see what happens at Sunset.
So yes overall the surf was average at Pipe this year. What can we expect in a La Nina year? At least we got a northwest swell in 2020? But we got the final we dreamed of and John John got his first Pipe Masters. Which he celebrated on an empty beach in Oahu (WTF?). You know the locals on the North Shore were losing their shit. So all is back to normal, and we can all ease our anxiety. 2021 looks hopeful because we have John and Gabriel going head to head. As John said in his post-heat, “I’m stoked to win it against Gabe.”