Professional Surfing Returns at Iconic Pipeline in Historic Day

It’s been a tumultuous year for the World Surf League, who saw their 2020 season cancelled as a result of the pandemic which has shut down so many sporting leagues across the globe over the course of this year. It returned with a bang over the last couple of weeks, however, with the world’s best competing at the iconic Pipeline in two events which culminated in an historic moment in women’s surfing.

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On the men’s side, John John Florence finally broke through for a maiden win at his home event on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Florence, who grew up directly in front of the world famous break, has surfed in the annual tournament there every year since 2008 with the exception of 2018, when he missed due to injury, and is regarded as arguably the greatest Pipeline surfer in history. Despite that, he has had a surprising lack of success there, only advancing past the quarter finals twice prior to this year and never winning the event.

This time around, however, he was on a mission from the outset. He barely looked like dropping a heat, defeating all those who came at him with consummate ease, and headed into the final against Gabriel Medina on the back of a 17.67 total against Leonardo Fiorivanti in the quarter-finals and 18.16 against the GOAT, Kelly Slater, in the semis.

The final was much more of a slog, with Florence just barely edging Medina in a much more low scoring clash. Medina managed the highest score of the heat with 6.67, but he was unable to back it up with another decent score, and John John’s ability to put together multiple solid waves was the deciding factor in the end.

His Pyzel surfboard held aloft, the joy on Florence’s face as he stepped out of the water following the win was plain to see. It was a win which had been 28 years in the making, and with every passing unsuccessful attempt at taking out the event, more and more question marks arose about whether one of the greatest surfers of this wave in history would ever actually be a Billabong Pipe Master. 2020 began in turbulent fashion for John John after he abruptly exited his contract with Hurley when Nike sold the brand to Blue Star Alliance, but it couldn’t have ended any better.

For the women, the Rip Curl sponsored Tyler Wright showed that the extended hiatus from professional surfing had done her no harm as she cruised through to an historic tournament final, where she beat local Carissa Moore in a tight and low scoring affair. 

In line with the rest of 2020, it was an extraordinary and unpredictable event. Known as the Maui Pro, the event began at Honolua Bay on the west side of Maui. Part way through, however, it was put on hold after a nearby shark attack. The World Surf League ultimately made the decision to complete the event at Pipeline, one of the world’s most well-known waves but one which has – until now – been reserved for certain specialty events as well as the men’s tournament.

Wright had been surfing brilliantly at Honolua Bay, putting together a 15.57 in her opening round before a 10-point ride in the quarters helped her to a dominant 18.33 total, but the move to Pipeline didn’t slow her down one iota as she helped herself to a dominant 10.5 to 2.87 victory over fellow Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons.

Four-time world champion Carissa Moore had unsurprisingly been surfing pretty well herself at Honolua Bay, scoring in excess of 14 in each of her heats there, but upon moving to Pipe she took things to a new level. A 9.6 on her fourth wave helped her to a 16.6 total in the semi-finals – resulting in a huge 14.13-point win over Tatiana Weston-Webb – setting up a battle of the heavyweights in the final between two women who have won four of the last five world titles and six of the last nine. 

Given the clinical performance Moore put together in the semis, you would have been forgiven for expecting her to go on with it in the final. And, with two minutes to go in the last heat of the year, it looked like she would do just that. A 5.4 with just a couple of minutes left on the clock gave Moore the lead over Wright, but the Aussie responded with a 3.17 as the clock wound down, which was all she needed to become the first ever female champion at Pipeline. 

The second winner of the day on a Pyzel board, Wright made mention of the significance of the day for not only herself, but women’s surfing more broadly. 

“It was such an incredible day for me and for women in general,” she said. “It’s been a real privilege to get this opportunity because I know a lot of women never thought this was possible, including myself. I hope that isn’t lost on the next generation of surfers either for what is truly possible in women’s surfing.”

And after the excitement the final few heats generated, it would surprise few if the World Surf League opted to continue down the path of Pipeline being an event shared by both the men’s and the women’s side of surfing in the future.2020 was a difficult year for professional surfing, as it was for most sporting leagues around the globe. But the way it ended, with two of the sport’s best surfers saluting at one of the world’s most iconic waves, represented some hope that the 2020/21 WSL season could deliver something resembling past seasons. Both the men and the women will return to Hawaii for the next event, which will take place at Sunset Beach, just a few kilometres to the north-east of Pipeline. That one kicks off on the 19^th of January, and if Pipeline is anything to go by, it will be worth tuning in to.