See the waves even Nathan Florence is too scared to catch!
Two weeks ago at the Big Wave Awards, Nathan Florence, brother of US Olympian John John, officially become the alpha male of the Florence squad, which also includes little brother Ivan and shredder mom Alex.
The cups for Surfer of the Year and Ride of the Year were both awarded to Nathan Florence, and only nine months after he was rushed to hospital following a wipeout during a twenty-foot day at Jaws.
You’ll remember Nathan Florence took to social media to credit his powerlifting routine for saving him from a life in a wheelchair.
“Deadlifts are to thank, I believe,” he said.
Despite recent revelations Kainoa Igarashi has started to read, Florence, who is almost thirty and named after the son of the Hebrew King David, is widely regarded as the “world’s smartest surfer”.
(It ain’t the highest bar. Like the best white linebacker in the NFL or best Jewish sprinter.)
Anyway, Florence likes to be out there at the edge of things. He approaches big waves with steady unfaltering movements for he knows fear releases power.
But even the Surfer of the Year sometimes hits a wall, where fear of the unseen menacing beast, tusked and terrible, overcomes his terrific lust for waves.
And, so, we find Nathan Florence at a wave called The Cave in Portugal.
“The whole reef shelf comes out, the wave is dangerous at any size but especially at dead low,” says Florence. “It’s a mix of Backdoor, Off the Wall, but more shallow and heavy with a big reef chunk in front of it.”
Alone, he paddles out, a twitching pulse beating in a bladder of bones and skin.
Waves are examined, avoided. The sea breathes like a stinking dog.
Eventually, Nathan Florence, surfer of the year, paddles in without catching a wave.
“I’ll admit I was afraid,” he says.
But then, redemption as he returns to surf the wave with friends, for he knows that to share fear is the greatest bond of all.
Essential.
