The Pipeline Kid.
Raised on the sand at Pipeline and striking swells to Tahiti since he was a teenager, at 31, Hawaiian-born 2x World Champion John John Florence is inarguably one of the best surfers ever at Teahupo'o.
Besides his deep relationship with the community and experience at the wave, John is one of the most naturally gifted, technical backside tuberiders on the planet.
Catching his first wave at six months old, John John was touted as a prodigy and appeared as a youth phenom in international surf magazines and surf films before he was even in high school.
However, surfers like John don't emerge from a vacuum. John, Ivan and Nathan's mother, Alexandra didn't have a standard single mother lifestyle. As tiny kids, John, the oldest, and his brothers were taken under wing by their neighbor, the world's best surfer, Kelly Slater, and looked out for by the entire North Shore community.
Despite a handful of frustrating injuries (broken back, wrist, arm, leg, and more) since qualifying for the World Championship Tour, John John won the Pipe Masters, the Triple Crown, and two back-to-back World Titles in 2016 and 2017. This was all while consistently producing and starring in fan-favorite surf films that are as high art as they are performance; earning John multiple Surfer Poll Awards throughout his career.
With the Gold Medal on the line at one of his favorite waves in the world, John John Florence is not to be missed at Teahupo'o this month.