Prior to last year, just three people had ever won the Volcom Pipe Pro, and it was a pretty illustrious list — Jamie O’Brien, Kelly Slater and John John Florence. Australia’s Soli Bailey broke into that group by taking the crown in the seventh incarnation of the event on Oahu’s North Shore.
Bailey will be back to defend his title when the 2018 Volcom Pipe Pro gets under way on Monday. The same is true for Florence, who has won four — yes, four — of the seven during the event’s prestigious run.
It’s kind of amazing how dominant Florence has been. Amazing, but not surprising. His experience at Pipeline gives him an edge on just about everyone. But to not only perform well, but win it four times in six years has to include at least a modicum of luck. However, capitalizing on luck is what separates the truly great.
His perennial success at the Pipe Pro only magnifies the one glaring omission from his career resume — a Billabong Pipe Masters title. It’s sure to come someday, but he’s come up just shy to this point. We thought it was about to happen in December, but Jeremy Flores ripped it away by just .07 points.
If John John manages to grab win No. 5 at the Pipe Pro, he’ll be doing so against a young and hungry field. Some of the top seeds are the next generation of Hawaii surfers, still rising through the ranks and looking to make waves. This generation includes the likes of Josh Moniz, Barron Mamiya, Benji Brand and Imaikalani Devault. All four will have byes into the Round of 64, avoiding the early upset possibilities always prevalent in four-man heats.
Mamiya might be the next great one. Growing up on the North Shore, he’s not quite as obvious a superstar as John John was, but he is developing a style and reputation that should take him quite far in the pro ranks.
In 2017, Mamiya made the leap all the way to 64th on the Qualifying Series rankings, up from 920th in 2016. In the Hawaii/Tahiti Nui region, he climbed from 121st all the way to second for the year.
Reaching the semifinals at the World Cup of Surfing helped catapult him on the national level and he just made the final at the Sunset Open a week ago. Mamiya dominated his Junior competition last season and the logical progression would be for him to start stringing together some big results on the QS circuit. He’ll have an opportunity to do just that with a jump start on the field this week.
Sebastian Zietz and Koa Smith highlight Kauai’s top seeds, each receiving byes into the Round of 64. Dylan Goodale, Kaimana Jaquias, Evan Valiere, Bruce Irons, Chris Foster and Danny Fuller complete the crew, each opening up a little earlier in the event.
Two event wild card spots are still yet to be filled, so maybe there will be another surprise in the field. But it’s already a compelling group ready to get this QS 3,000 event under way. Will it be No. 5 for John John? There’s certainly nobody with a better chance.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
