John Florence Pulls Out Of Pipe, Kelly Slater To Take His Spot?

Back in 2018, at terrifyingly massive Pipeline, John Florence and Noa Deane shared an early-round heat at the Volcom Pipe Pro. 

As far as this surf nerd can recall, it’s the only time the two megastars have surfed against one another in competition. Noa Deane won.

That’s right—the singlet averse, relative Pipe newbie took down the North Shore local and 2x World Champion. Such is the beauty of surfing. You just never know.

Today, in what will be the third straight day of pumping 10-foot Pipeline for the year’s best QS, John and Noa will cross swords once more. By my calculations, they will be in the 11th heat of the day, which puts them in the water around 1:00 pm HST. 

Also surfing today are last year’s VPP champ, Jack Robinson; 2019 Rookie of the year, Seth Moniz; and a man with more viral momentum than the Coronavirus, Billy Kemper.

You can watch it all right here. 

UPDATE: John Florence has pulled out of the comp but Kelly is taking his spot! 

SECOND UPDATE: Kelly did not take John’s spot. We got bad info. Sorry!