John Florence, Barra Da Tijuca, Brazil

This morning at the Billabong Pro, Rio, John Florence dominated his third and fourth round heats. Against Miguel Pupo in round three, John posted a combined total of 16.23 for two lazy, but deep barrels. He then played the exact same game, a cave in each pocket, against Taj Burrow and Julian Wilson in round four, this time scooping an 8.10 and 9.63. “It was Taj and Julian and those are two guys you never want to have in a heat,” Johnny said afterwards. “It was windy when I first paddled out and I was trying to do airs and have fun with it. Then the wind stopped and I got the one in the middle of the heat that was a pretty decent barrel. I finally got that last one and there was only 10 seconds left. I wasn’t even sure I had gotten the score when I hit the beach.” Have you ever seen a 19-year-old with this kinda barrel experience? “That one good barrel came through and I was just trying to figure out what the conditions were doing,” he says (though Stab thinks that he’s coy about his wave-magnetism). “I was searching for any kind of peak and couldn’t find one, then I got the wave at the last second.” Johnny will face Julian again in Quarterfinal three. Don’t miss that one.