JJ Florence, three from three (QS) wins! With semi-finalist Occ!

Oh Dear John! Look what you’ve gone and done! You took out the Sunset and Pipeline QS victories as expected. But, beyond Hawaiian shores!

Say, five years ago, the talk around JJ Florence was he was nothing more than another JOB: brilliant at the Pipeline, great as a freesurfer but with an inability to be able to dance with the big dogs outta Hawaii with coloured lycra on. How wrong those predictions are! JJ took the Telstra Drug Aware at Margaret River without really breaking a sweat. He finished the final with 18.76 from 20 that matched two more of his 19-plus heat scores throughout the event.

“Some great waves came through early in the heat and I felt loose and relaxed and hit a few airs,” said John, post win. “The wind here is just like home and it was pushing into the left for a change and gave me a chance to get up on a couple.”

And can y’believe 45-year-old Mark Occhilupo made the semis! Occ surfed with passion and intent, and drew exquisite lines at Margies.