Florence soars to victory in El Salvador, Marks defends title

Hawaii's John John Florence solidified his lead at the top of surfing's world rankings with a win at the Surf City El Salvador Pro on Sunday, while 2023 world champion Caroline Marks defended her El Salvador title to shoot up to second in the rankings.

Hot off a semi-final in the thumping lefthand tubes at the Olympic venue of Teahupo'o in Tahiti, Florence showed his versatility in the long righthand walls of Punta Roca, punctuating his rides with big turns and some massive aerial manoeuvres.

Florence scored a perfect 10 point ride in his semi-final against South Africa's Paris 2024 Olympian Matthew McGillivray after taking to the air with a huge alley oop before repeatedly bashing the lip.

Brazil's Yago Dora also wowed the judges and the crowds at the cobblestone point with his aerial antics, spinning and flipping through heat after heat and racking up a mammoth 17.66 heat total out of a possible 20 points against countryman Gabriel Medina in their semi-final.

In the final, Dora had the single highest wave score, a 9.77 out of 10 but Florence held on with a 7.83 and an 8.5 to take his first win on tour in more than three years.

"I think I just feel light and I feel good," said Florence, whose first child was born in May. "Coming into the year, there's been so much going on you know, we're having a baby, the Olympics and the tour and everything - there's a lot, but it's just been so much fun and better than I could ever have imagined."

In the women's event, Marks' powerful backhand proved a point of difference on finals day, timing her turns deep off the bottom and sending fans of spray to the sky as she hit the lip.

Her final against hard-carving Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan went down to the wire, with both women clocking their two highest scores on their two last waves.

Marks took the lead with a pair of 7.4s, leaving Bryan chasing a score as the clock ticked down and the ocean went quiet.

"That feels really good, and El Salvador is always so good to me," Marks said. "It kick-started my campaign to win the world title last year. I love Punta Roca."

The tour next heads to Brazil before Olympic qualified surfers return to Tahiti for the Paris 2024 Games.

The final stop on the world tour is in Fiji in August, then the top five men and women surfers battle for the world title at a one-day event in Southern California in September. REUTERS