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rampstyle #36

John John Florence: Making Waves

He competed in the Olympic Games twice and won three world championship titles. Now the 32-year-old is taking a break. Because there are so many beautiful waves.

© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
  • Text
    Wiebke Brauer
  • Photos
    Mark Mahaney
1/3

Strictly speaking, John John Florence’s real name is just John, like his father. But after his mother saw the pictures of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting at his father’s coffin, she adopted young Kennedy’s nickname for her own son as well. Because she hoped her son would be just as brave. Maybe it had something to do with her husband leaving her stranded on Hawaii with three small kids – who knows. 

© Matt Dunbar/World Surf League via Getty Image
© Matt Dunbar/World Surf League via Getty Image
“I think I’m more of a free surfer at heart, not a competitive surfer. Though I am very competitive at the same time.”
John John Florence on the Rich Roll Podcast

Today, John John Florence is the most successful surfer in the world. Born on Oahu, he was just thirteen when he became the youngest competitor in the Triple Crown of Surfing. He represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 and in Paris in 2024, finishing ninth both times. He went on to win the WSL World Championship tour in 2016, 2017 and 2024. This year he’s sitting it out, right at the peak of his career. Instead, Florence is sailing through the South Pacific with his wife Lauryn and their one-year-old son Darwin. Because, as he wrote on Instagram in January, the ocean is big and there are so many different types of wave to explore.

People used to say that Kelly Slater had saltwater running through his veins instead of blood. The same could be said about John John Florence. When he was about seven, Slater sometimes took the young Florence bodysurfing, back when the eleven-time WSL world champion was still living on Oahu’s North Shore. That’s where Florence grew up. And it’s where the legendary Banzai Pipeline comes rolling in – a monster wave shaped like a hollow tube. Florence was just eight the first time he (...)

→ Read the whole story in the new rampstyle #36 "Beyond the Sea"!

Wiebke Brauer

Wiebke Brauer

Head of text ramp & Freelance author
After graduating from high school, Wiebke Brauer studied English and German as her first major with a focus on media culture. Interested in topics of all kinds and bird-free since 2016, as she says herself. With work for Spiegel Online, auto, motor und sport, Motor Klassik, Fuel and Stern, long a blog for the young and classic car site carsablanca.de - and more than fond of ramp magazine.
rampstyle #36
Beyond the Sea
John John Florence: Making Waves

rampstyle #36
Beyond the Sea

Beyond the sea lies the unknown. And that’s exactly where we’ve always been drawn. Adventure beckons. Our imagination kicks in. “Somewhere beyond the sea . . .” – those are the opening lines to a song that has long since become the cultural soundtrack of our yearning. This magazine is a perfect match. And the courage to set out. Dream big. Think wider. Go beyond.

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