The finals of the Rio Pro saw some impressive performances from the stacked field. But the most convincing display of surfing came from the least seasoned competitor-- rookie John John Florence, who won his first WCT final today at age 19.

As predicted earlier this month by the absent Kelly Slater, it was only a matter of time before Florence bagged his first contest victory. Now, having won in the heaviest of waves at the Volcom Pipeline Pro in January, and in the smallest of waves at Rio today Florence has proved himself in a range of conditions. And it appears that we've only seen the beginning of the two-John era.

With dominating performances throughout the day, which culminated in a flogging of Joel Parkinson in the final heat (16.37 to 11.44) John John was in disbelief as he was chaired up the beach: "I can't even believe this right now, I'm in shock. I was sticking to my game plan. I'm so happy right now. I can't even believe it... Coming here, I wasn't expecting to win."

Now sitting well inside the top 10, John John has not only taken a lead in the rookie of the year hunt, but has also tossed his hat in the ring for an outside shot at a late-season title campaign.

See more event photos here.



BILLABONG RIO PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1 - John John Florence (HAW) 16.37
2 - Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.44

BILLABONG RIO PRO SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.83 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.00
SF 2: John John Florence (HAW) 17.94 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.86

BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.90 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.60
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.57 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 5.90
QF 3: John John Florence (HAW) 14.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.43
QF 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.84 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.27

CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 10 (After Billabong Rio Pro):
1. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 19700 pts
2. Mick Fanning (AUS) 18250 pts
3. Josh Kerr (AUS) 18200 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17200 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 15750 pts
6. John John Florence (HAW) 15750 pts
7. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15700 pts
8. Kelly Slater (USA) 13700 pts
9. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12250 pts
10. Owen Wright (AUS) 12150 pts

You may not have noticed that the webcast was down for most of Round 1 at the Billabong Pro Rio. That's alright. The third stop on tour is like a nasty speed-bump in the yearlong schedule. But just to keep this year interesting, Kelly Slater skipped out with an injured heel, opening the door to the other top ranked surfers on tour, which charges the event with some new importance.

The window of opportunity was felt by those still in the hunt for this year's title. The top seeds managed to capitalize on Slater's absence as the five highest ranked surfers-- Jordy, Joel, Mick, Taj, Adriano-- advanced to Round 3 today.

No one felt the implications of the 11-time world-champ's absence as heavily as Adriano DeSouza. After winning his Round 1 heat against Kai Otton, he commented, "There's a lot of pressure being defending champion and with Kelly not here. I'm the second seed and could take the lead for the title if I do well. It's still too early to really consider the title, but I know the crowd is behind me at this event."

After his younger Brazilian cohort Gabriel Medina took the limelight at last week's Lowers Pro, DeSouza has plenty of motivation to win in front of his home crowd, and avenge last year's "floatergate." But the real test will be his ability to perform under world title pressure.

Perhaps the most surprising loss of Round 1 was Gabriel Medina, who looked unstoppable at last week's Lowers Pro. Adrian Buchan was hungry to win the heat after losing to Medina at Lowers, stating, "There's a rivalry between Gabe and I for sure. He spanked me at Lowers five days ago. I didn't get going in that heat and I knew when the draw changed that there was going to be another match up. I was definitely fired up."

It goes without saying that the Brazil contest is not the most prestigious on tour. However, as the number of Brazilians becomes an increasing majority among the top 32, it's likely that the Billabong Pro Rio isn't going anywhere soon.

Day 1 Highlights:


Complete Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.86, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.23, Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.56
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.57, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.24, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.53
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.60, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 9.20, Taylor Knox (USA) 6.03
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.80, Kai Otton (AUS) 14.53, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 11.40
Heat 5: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.16, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.20, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 9.53
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.00, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.23, Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Heat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.14, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 13.74, Brett Simpson (USA) 11.56
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.00, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.24, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 11.30
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.34, Travis Logie (ZAF), 13.87, Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.53
Heat 10: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.90, Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.17, Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.57
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.84, Kolohe Andino (USA) 10.17, Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.37
Heat 12: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.93, Adam Melling (AUS) 12.57, John John Florence (HAW) 9.16

Round 2 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Tomas Hermes (BRA)
Heat 3: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 4: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 5: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 6: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 7: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 9: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 11: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)

Over the weekend the ASP announced a new "Anti-doping" policy effective for 2012.

I'm warning you, it's a lot of words, big ones. If you are in a nerdy mood and feel like reading them, click here.

Let me bullet point the important facts:

-this new rule applies to ASP staff as well as ASP surfers (Brodie Carr not included)
-the list of prohibited substances include: a long list of steroids, plus: alcohol (really?), amphetamines (ok, understndable), benzodiazepines (wtf is that?!), cannaboids (weed? why?), cocaine (duh), methamphetamines (also duh), and narcotics (aren't these all narcotics?)
-use, possession, and attempted use are all considered the same thing, guilty.
-testing will occur during events only
-testing will be done randomly (yeah right)
-violations will be met with 1 year suspension/disqualification on first offense.

The underlying reason behind this announcement is an attempt by the ASP to legitimize surfing as a sport to the public, and also to provide better role models for the groms, or at least create that illusion.

This makes sense. After some of the recent "amateur-hour" moments surfing has seen, such as the premature-crowning of Kelly Slater, drug-free surfers may seem a little less dumb? Maybe?

On the other hand, i'm not sure enacting a "parental-control" system of rules will be the best way to go about fostering a positive image. These are grown men and women we're talking about.

Surfing is not a sport where "doping" is really an advantage. Doping refers to steroids, and their obvious advantages for sports like football and baseball. Muscle mass means little in surfing, unless you're in da Wolfpak, so there's no logical reason for anyone to abuse drugs to surf better.

In fact, the only ever case of a surfer on steroids was in 2004 when Brazilian Neco Padaratz was suspended for testing positive to anabolic steroids in France. Back then the ASP had a zero tolerance policy in place for steroids, but athletes were almost never tested. Padaratz claimed the steroids were for a back injury, and he was allowed to return the following year.

Roids aside, the inclusion of performance-reducing drugs such as Alcohol, Marijuana, and Benz-whatever (which is valium, i looked it up on the internet) seems a little silly. They have nothing to do with the sport itself. Besides, they serve beer at the events, and what is this going to mean for the epic champagne popping orgy on the podium?

If anything, the only thing at risk here is losing some great characters on tour. Let's face it, clean-cut-robot-athletes are no fun compared to the wildmen of surfing's colorful past, of which drugs were pretty blatantly involved.

To quote the eloquent words of Bobby Martinez, whose act of parental-rebellion may not be the last we see: "This ain't no fuckin tennis tour!"

While backroom drama between surfers, tour directors and sponsors made for a tumultuous 2011 ASP season, beyond all the internet chatter and puffed-up posturing - or maybe despite it - the consumer facing product that casual fans see is better than ever. Fan interest has never been higher, and the numbers prove it. Yet it's not Kelly Slater or the overflowing pool of global talent that's most responsible for this growth. In fact, the single biggest contributor has been the steady improvement of ASP webcasts.


Today the broadcast experience is looking more and more like a television show, which is as it should be, especially with web-enabled televisions on our walls and cable outlets carrying the big contests live. But most of the broadcast improvements have come via the infrastructure side. Events are paying top dollar for producers and directors responsible for nice smooth HD feeds, smooth transitions in and out of commercial breaks, and even some nice editorial cutaway segments. These tiny, barely tangible little touches polish the product.

There is, however, one very important piece still missing: the unbiased announcer with journalistic flair and the on air chops to back them up. Fact is, being able to set the dramatic table, articulate the nuances of both the big picture and small, and ultimately keep the fan engaged during the world's slowest moving sport (yup, that's surfing) is no easy task. And it's certainly not one that should just be handed to the marketing guy to save a few bucks. Fact is, surfing needs a larger than life flame throwing personality like the much loved (and hated) Howard Cosell, and it needs him now...

And that's a wrap folks. The 2011 season has come and gone, now that the dust has settled, and the ASP has done the math correctly, lets have a look at our 2012 World Tour competitors, shall we?

A couple of things to point out:

1) No Dane Reynolds. My already short attention span is really worried about this.
2) What is Kelly Slater going to do next year? He mentioned in a post heat interview during pipe that if Snapper, the first event on the season, wasn't a Quik event, he probably would have a few less world titles, as that event has springboarded him into a world title hunt in years when he wasn't planning on competing at all.
3) Kolohe and Yadin are the only 2 fresh faces on tour. You can bet Kolohe is studying what Gabe Medina did in his debut a couple months back. Kolohe is no stranger to the podium, but Yadin needs to shake those nerves before he gets into another final. Perhaps you recall his final this summer against Slater, he ran away from that US Open trophy like it had herpes.
4) Holy shit the roster is pretty stacked for next season.

2012 ASP TOP 34:
1. Kelly Slater (USA)
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
3. Taj Burrow (AUS)
4. Gabriel Medina (BRA)
5. Owen Wright (AUS)
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
7. Julian Wilson (AUS)
8. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
9. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
10. Michel Bourez (PYF)
11. Josh Kerr (AUS)
12. Damien Hobgood (USA)
13. John John Florence (HAW)
14. Mick Fanning (AUS)
15. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
16. Heitor Alves (BRA)
17. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
18. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
19. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
20. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
21. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
22. Brett Simpson (USA)
23. Adam Melling (AUS)
24. Kolohe Andino (USA)
25. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
26. Tiago Pires (PRT)
27. Jadson Andre (BRA)
28. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
29. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
30. Dusty Payne (HAW)
31. Travis Logie (ZAF)
32. Taylor Knox (USA)
33. Kai Otton (AUS) *surfer wildcard (next on the ASP World Rankings)
34. Yadin Nicol (AUS) *surfer wildcard (injury)
1st Alternate: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
2nd Alternate: Willian Cardoso (BRA)
3rd Alternate: Chris Davidson (AUS)
4th Alternate: Thiago Camarao (BRA)

And here's the 2012 tour schedule so far..