Listen: Can John John Florence Still Make The 2028 Olympics?

Another week ends, another episode of The Drop drops.

Buck is back at his coastal estate after a sobering adult baptism in a Bavarian river and a not so sober sojourn through Munich. 

He tells us everything we didn’t want to know about river surfing, and video evidence suggests he may be overselling his expertise.

Across a lot of landlocked territory and the Atlantic, the Surf 100 Challenge presented by Pacifico moves to the Outer Banks for the coldest water a Stab production has ever encountered, and that includes wetsuit testing in Canada. After some biodynamic facial cryotherapy, this episode’s victors will reappear in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, for some balmier weather compensation.

It was a lighthearted podcast until the conversation turned to Olympic pathways. Brace yourselves for a lot of numbers and initialisms as Mikey tries to explain the recent changes spurred by the threat of a mass boycott of the ISA games by most WSL surfers. If you enjoy having new card games explained to you, this one’s for you. You still won’t be able to play, though. Even Ryan Crosby is disappointed.

Our pupils suddenly dilate when the name John John Florence is mentioned, and what it would take for the elusive three-time world champ to qualify for the 2028 US Olympics brought to you by hydration breaks.

Few topics in the world are more divisive than politics, religion, and sharks. Or so we’ve learned from Shark Week, as made clear by Fred Pawle and Michael Mehmet, who locked horns in a heated and somehow inconclusive debate where facts, opinions, and contradictions were all aired out.

Time comes to toot our own horn with a bunch of dangling carrots carved with the following titles: EAST starring Harry Bryant, the Surf 100 Challenge presented by Pacifico finale, How Surfers Get Paid, The Taylor Steele Library, EAST Fest, Feeder (and what it actually is), another Stab High somewhere different, and more, all popping up on this here website over the coming months.

August being a big month for contests in hollow lefts, brings us to the Rip Curl Padang Cup, previewed by Jed Smith and discussed further on air, as well as the Tahiti Pro, which opens the Pacific leg of the CT.

A sobering finish comes with the tragic news of British professional surfer Arran Strong’s disappearance at sea in Portugal and what we know so far.

Get this between your ears. And John John Florence, if you’re reading this and really want to find out how to make it into the next Olympics, this one’s for you.