Watch: Nate Florence Goes Behind-The-Scenes On Finals Day - Stab Mag
12 Days
04 Hours
31 Minutes
52 Seconds

Live now

Watch Now: Micky Clarke's Octo Part 'Circuit Bender'

635 Views

Watch: Nate Florence Goes Behind-The-Scenes On Finals Day

“It was one of the proudest days of my life.”

elsewhere // Oct 2, 2024
Words by Jack O'Neill Paterson
Reading Time: < 1 minute

To hear our full conversation with the now 3x World Champ, click here. 

Nathan Florence has made a habit of toasting to death—sharing a drink, maybe even stealing a kiss—but never going home to the tomb. This week, though, he’s taking a breather. Instead of his usual R-rated content, he’s gone for a softer touch, sharing a behind-the-scenes POV to commemorate the day his older brother clinched his third world title.

“I went from trying to paddle The Right, straight to California, and then John won the world title,” says Nate, blue eyes unblinking, beard that looks like it’s been growing through hard times. “It was one of the proudest days of my life. There was a huge crowd of people on the beach, all wearing Florence, all screaming their heads off.”

Nate’s Finals Day vlog, scored with a frantic violin, becomes even more exhilarating when you crank it up to 1.5x the regular speed (life’s busy, etc.).

Highlights include the camera uncomfortably fixating on John Pyzel’s teeth as they grind through a piece of chewing gum, the crowd’s reaction to that turn, and John John standing behind the competitors’ gate, eyes closed, while Italo fidgets like a caged rat, wrestling with the demons of 17 empty Red Bull cans.

In our recent interview with John, he recounts the situation: “They make you stand behind the stage before they announce you. I was trying to close my eyes, breath, and feel what was happening, and I looked over at Italo, and he was just rapping in Portuguese.”

To listen to the rest of our conversation with the champ, click here. 

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

The Land Of Dancing Pandas, Fireblowers, And Big Fucking Ramps

What to expect on the ground at Stab High in China, according to a former…

Oct 31, 2026

SEOTY: JOB’s Favorite Backdoor Surfer Of All Time

Kelly Slater, Shane Dorian, and more weigh in on a remarkable portrait of Torrey Meister.

Oct 29, 2026

A Pool Film Starring Hughie Vaughan, Eithan Osborne, Craig Anderson + Mikey Wright

Technical knockouts at Surf Abu Dhabi.

Oct 29, 2026

The King Of Cloud 9 Won’t Divulge His Trade Secrets, But He Will Happily Smoke World Champs

4x Cloud 9 QS winner Marama Tokong talks the forey and stacked wildcard bench.

Oct 28, 2026

Coming This Halloween: A Gothic Surf Thriller Starring Jaleesa Vincent, Frankie Harrer, Kobe Hughes, And Caity Simmers

Plus, how a sleepover in a Pyrenean castle birthed the concept.

Oct 27, 2026

Watch: Caity Simmers, Steph Gilmore, Coco Ho and Frankier Harrer Surf The CT’s Newest Venue

In honor of Cloud 9, we're bringing back Milk & Honey (for free).

Oct 27, 2026

What’s It Like Seeing Your $160K Camera Go Over The Falls At 15ft Chopes?

Phantom man Chris Bryan talks getting bear clawed in Abu Dhabi, and the highly specialised…

Oct 27, 2026

The Untold Story Of Shane Dorian’s First Paddle Wave At Jaws

“Next thing you know, I hear everyone on the cliff screaming and whistling.”

Oct 26, 2026

Menaces To The Establishment: Sierra Kerr & Erin Brooks | StabMic Ep.36

Who’ll have the bigger trophy cabinet when all’s said and done?

Oct 26, 2026

Watch: Inflation Point — The Story Of Big-Wave Surfing’s Most Notorious Invention

How a handful of near-death experiences, tragic losses, and some clever engineering changed surfing forever.

Oct 23, 2026

Griff Is The King Of Peniche, Molly Goes Green-To-Yellow At Pumping Supertubos

The Rip Curl Pro Portugal ends on the highest note.

Oct 23, 2026

Is The Australian Storm Coming?

Inside surfing's finest talent factory.

Oct 22, 2026

The Morning I Pulled A Dead Man From The Zicatela Shorebreak

On location during the filming of 'Inflation Point'

Oct 21, 2026

SEOTY: Micky Clarke Sings Ke$ha In The Face Of (Un)Certain Death

The story behind his new Octo part CIRCUITBENDER (now playing).

Oct 20, 2026

Brazil Storms Supertubos As Erin’s Four-Peat Hits A Pickle

The Rip Curl Pro Portugal returns for a brief but eventful moment.

Oct 20, 2026

Watch: 20-ish Minutes Of 36 Good Surfers In Good Waves

The Quik Fest recap edit has landed.

Oct 19, 2026

Dave Rastovich & Dane Reynolds On The Meaninglessness Of Surfing | StabMic Ep. 35

"Surfing is completely useless. But, imagine your life without it."

Oct 19, 2026

ISA And WSL Settle Differences, Agree To Split Time With The Kids

How will CT surfers compete in two concurrent surf events half a world apart this…

Oct 18, 2026
Advertisement