Photo: Nathan Florence // YouTube
In some ways, crowds are one of the great equalizing factors in surfing. Though they are infuriating, and getting worse every year, they have a habit of affecting pretty much every wave rider, big and small. In a recent post to his YouTube channel, Nathan Florence proved that to be true, but not really in the way the rest of us are used to.
That’s because the angry surfer in a crowd he had to deal with was a three-time world champion and his own brother – John John Florence.
The whole thing went down just after the pair had paddled out at Pipe, during the third day of a sizable swell bender. “John is probably still mad at me for this,” explained Nathan afterward. “We get out into the water at the same time and this crazy right comes and he paddles for it. As he paddled by me, I turned behind him and went on the wave. He was so mad, I get back out in the lineup and he won’t even speak to me.”
From Nathan’s description, John appeared to be experiencing a healthy mix of sibling rivalry and legitimate fury. “I get back in the lineup, this left comes and I go on the left and John is in a rage by this point. He’s like ‘You just took that wave. I’m taking every wave from you for the rest of the swell bender.’” After a bemused Nathan explained that he thought they hadn’t established priority in the lineup yet, John replied “I always have priority over you, forever. I’ve been surfing pipe ten years before you.” (Despite the brothers only being two years apart in age.)
“I back it, there is a hierarchy out there,” laughed Nathan.
