Adriano De Souza and John John Florence represent victory for all of us. They represent victory for surf culture as a whole. Photos: WSL
As we focus on the North Shore of Hawaii for the final hurrah of 2016, it feels a little anti-climatic. John John Florence has already claimed the world title. We are swaddled in a great blanket of peace. We have our world champion, and he is right. The Pipe Masters won’t quite have the same bite this year, but there is a hum of contentment throughout the surfing world.
In the absence of drama, we are forced to look at the bigger picture. In 2015 and 2016, for the first time in history, professional, competitive surfing has finally captured the essence and diversity of our culture. The WSL, through good fortune rather than judgment, have overseen the moment when pro surfing became everything it always wanted to be. The moment when the spectacle of competitive surfing lived up to its aspirations.
There’s no need for me to rehash the surfing-as-a-lifestyle cliches. Suffice to say that to each of us it is unique, and to each of us it’s more than just a pastime. We are a broad church for which the classification of “sport” barely seems adequate. For thousands of surfers, the idea of surfing as a competition ranges from irrelevant to blasphemous. As such, there are surfers the world over who couldn’t tell you who the world champion is at any given time.
But the last two years have made professional surfing relevant to just about everyone. Our last two world champions – Adriano De Souza and John John Florence – encapsulate the broadest sweep of surf culture imaginable. They are the unification of everything that surfing represents. And this is true because the contrasts between them are so striking.
One is tall and blonde. He has a laissez-faire attitude which belies a freakish, innate talent for reading and riding waves. His lackadaisical manner masks a lifelong immersion in surfing, in addition to his natural gifts. He has a style that unifies discourse. He has been forged by the North Shore of Hawaii, the home of surfing, and grew up with the sound of the planet’s most iconic wave breaking just beyond his bedroom walls. He’s transitioned seamlessly from child prodigy to industry darling. If he has a flaw, in character or in skill, we are yet to see it. He is truly a child raised by surfing, and we are his proud siblings.
The other is Adriano De Souza. No one wants to surf like Adriano. No one copies his style. No one wants to put him on the cover of a magazine, and no one wants to make a big-budget feature film about him. He is short and stocky. He is known for being a fiery competitor, expressive and tenacious. He doesn’t care how many claims he throws or what people think of him. He bludgeoned his way to a world title with 7 point rides. He is a world champion borne of grit, determination, and bloody hard work. He started his career with a $7 surfboard in an impoverished part of Brazil. By rights he should be the people’s champion, but he sure as hell isn’t. Our reaction to his title was one of muted embarrassment and platitudes. Adriano as world champion was received with about as much warmth as a party guest who takes a shit on the sofa. If you want further evidence of just how little people care about Adriano, take a look at his Wikipedia page. Nothing more than a frigid list of contest results.
Make no mistake, though, without Adriano, there would be no John John Florence, 2016 WSL champion. This is a fact that Florence was quick to point out in his post-victory interviews, as well as on Occy’s podcast, claiming that he “learned a lot from watching Adriano.” This wasn’t merely a respectful nod to the champion vacating the throne, but rather a genuine admittance that De Souza showed winning a world title is just as much about strategy and hard work as it is about natural talent or style.
Opposite ends of the human spectrum as they may be, these two men are symbolic of surfing’s broad reach. It doesn’t take account of culture, stature, background, personality, or anything else. It shows us that balance is the defining force, and it is through surfing that many of us achieve this balance. Gerry “Mr. Pipeline” Lopez says surfing is a high-level form of mediation. Witnessing his casual, zen-like approach to neck-snapping waves at Pipe, you would find it hard to argue. Lopez made it look like he had all the time in the world in waves traveling like bullet trains. Eerily similar to the way John Florence does, in fact. 2015 and 2016 are when pro surfing achieved balance. We had our yin and now we have our yang. Isn’t it fitting that we should be heading back to the birthplace of our culture in a state of bliss?
The last two champions of the World Surf League are about as diverse as two men who have achieved the same goals can get. It’s not hyperbole to say that in Adriano De Souza and John John Florence we have seen every type of victory that sport can bring. Their successes represent the whole spectrum of human experience, from adversity to beauty. Adriano’s was a victory for dedication, belief, and hard work, whereas the aesthetic and artistic victory belongs to John John. But these champions, together, represent victory for all of us, and they represent victory for surf culture as a whole.
