John John Florence Opens Competitive Return With An 18.10 Heat Total

It has been 15 months since John John Florence last appeared as a full-time CT competitor, an absence that began with him winning a world title. Twelve months have passed since his showing at the Eddie. Eleven since he accepted a wildcard berth at Pipe to open the 2025 CT season. Since then, he has been residing upon a boat

One month ago, however, he made it official: should Hades fail to intervene, should the world persist in its turning, and should he arrive at Bells in April both breathing and functional, John John Florence will contest a full season on the World Tour in 2026.

“JJF is back,” wrote the WSL announcement. “3X World Champ, Pipe Master, Eddie Winner, and one of the most progressive surfers of all time.”

Smiles followed. Damp cheeks across the global surf sphere. His return to competition will be celebrated, naturally. Still, a few of us gently slid a slim pamphlet of doubts across the table, asking whether the CT remains John’s kingdom. Much can change in a year. New stars emerge. John is not immune to injury, nor to the occasional lapse in focus or commitment. And, he’s spent the last stretch afloat on a tropical sea, yacht-bound with family, surfing unmapped waves.

The question, then, is a simple one: does the desire still reside there?

Additionally, no male surfer besides Slater has won a world title past the age of 33. John will be 34 by the end of 2026 season.

Were we wrong to enquire whether time itself might refuse to wait for him?

Apparently, yeah. Yesterday, John resumed the jersey for the first time in a year, entered the competition that bears his name in sponsorship, and and proceeded to very quickly, as Plato put it,  fuck shit up.

Amongst a field of Pipe specialists, most of them labouring nobly to scrape together a ten-point heat total, John waltzed out there and emerged with 18.10 points to his name, but a single landing away from a perfect 10.

“What was the deal out there, were you trying to make a surf movie?,” asked Nate Florence when John joined him in the booth, bareback, following his heat. 

A man capable of fashioning cinema from competitive obligation. There is, quite simply, no one else like John. And with Gabriel Medina likewise set to return in 2026, one is tempted to borrow from Plato once more: It’s going to be a good fucking year. 

Feeling prescient? BetOnline.ag has posted odds for the next round, with some intriguing heats on the horizon. Have at it here.