Page 6 - MidWeek Leeward - Jan 5, 2022

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JANUARY 5, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
It’s hard to be- lieve we’re at the end of the year. Time rolled by faster than a tsunami. The surf fore- cast for December was below average, but there have been insanely good exceptions to the rule. In particular, the re- cent west-northwest we had for the men’s HIC Pipe Pro held Dec. 17-18.
groomed Pipe to perfection. When you add the best surf- ers into the mix, it ignites into fireworks.
for the past five years. Don’t forget he’s got two back-to- back world titles in 2016 and 2017. When Florence won his first title, he also won the prestigious Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea. Florence pulled this feat off in the biggest surf ever in its nearly 40- year history — 30 feet solid with close outs.
it best: “It feels so amazing just to win this event, espe- cially after Hale‘iwa, too,” Florence explains. “Com- ing into this event I was actually a little bit nervous. There’s a lot of really good surfers ... But it was fun to get back into the rhythm and be competing out here again and getting ready for what’s to come in the next few months.
Let’s finish with a huge congrats to Moana Wong for her biggest career win on Dec. 16. Surf wasn’t quite like the men’s but it ended up with plenty of tubes.
“I always wanted to win this contest and I finally won it,” Wong says. “I’ve been doing this contest since I was 12 years old, before it was taken by WSL, it was Betty Depolito who had this contest. So, I’ve been doing it for so many years and I al- ways came so close. I finally accomplished my goal and I feel really, really good.”
Surf was excellent rang- ing from 4 to 8 feet on Ha- waiian scale — so a couple of feet overhead to near tri- ple overhead. We had nice offshore east trades, too, that
This is the legend’s fifth victory for this particular event (formerly the Volcom Pipe Pro). Plus, Florence has a Pipe Masters under his belt.
The Eddie contest began at Sunset Beach in 1984 due to lack of surf size, and then from 1986 until now it’s all been at the bay.
“I was really stoked. It was a great final. And to win like that is always real- ly fun. Last second — it was all building up for those last seconds.”
Thank you for sharing your time with me in Mid- Week’s Leeward O‘ahu Voice.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Florence, Wong Finish The Year With A Win At Pipe
You may have heard that the North Shore’s very own John John Florence won a Pipe contest again.
The goofy foot — right foot forward — won in a clutch performance at Pipeline and Backdoor for valuable Challenger Series points, plus a wildcard into the 2022 Championship Tour’s Billabong Pro Pipe- line. Wong committed by throwing herself over the ledge at this dangerous reef — over and over throughout finals day.
This 6-foot-1, 185-pound, 29-year-old surfer is con- sidered by many to be the greatest, most talented wave rider in the world — at least
Anyway, back to the HIC Pipeline Pro. Florence says
GQ, droppin’ in 4 U!
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
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