Jeremy Flores display nerves of steel in Round 2 at Quiksilver Pro France
There are not many surfers who can hold their nerves in pressure situations, but France’s Jeremy Flores sure showed the world during Quiksilver Pro France that he has the nerves of steel.
The Frenchman was sitting on the World No.8 spot as he arrived at the La Graviere in Hossegor, France, to compete in the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour.
He had been exhibiting an impressive form over the last few months, collecting a handful of good results, but there was still plenty of work left for him to do before the end of the season.
With some of the best surfers from around the globe, the going was never going to be easy for Flores, but he knew that he needed to rise to the occasion and take the heavy-weights of surfing head-on in order to rise higher on the ASP World Title rankings.
In order to do this, he of course needed to get off to a solid start and build on the confidence to get closer to a desirable result.
However, things did not kick-off the way he had hoped. Finding himself pitted against America’s Brett Simpson and Australia’s Yadin Nicol in his Round 1 heat, the Frenchman was unable to make much of an impact and found himself finishing in third place.
The disappointing start pushed him into the relegation round, where he was up against Nicol in a one-on-one battle for survival.
Much was at stake during the elimination round, thus pushing Flores under immense pressure. He was standing on the edge, needing to collect a win desperately in order to stay alive in contention for the event title and continue to have a chance of improving
his standings in the ASP World Title rankings.
As the battle between Flores and Nicol begun, the latter got off to a great start. He got his hands on a phenomenal barrel in the opening minutes of the heat, which he successfully rode to post a perfect 10 on the score-board.
The perfect start allowed him to put his rival under immense pressure. Adding another 2.00 points to his account, the Australian surfer reached a heat-total of 12.00 points.
Flores was indeed stuck in a demanding situation, needing a couple of good scores to have any real chance of challenging his rival.
Despite the pressure, the French surfer held his nerve and kept his cool. With a clear head, he successfully managed to score a 5.33 off his first business-wave and later backed it up with a 7.17-point ride to reach a heat-total of 12.50 points.
The confident performance was just what he needed to finish on top of Nicol and earn his place in the third round.
“Waves are fun but I got a two-wave hold down – I don’t think that’s ever happened to me in my whole life.” Flores said after the heat was over. “I mean, I’ve surfed big waves and that, but after that wipe-out (which wasn’t that bad), the wave just held
me down. I guess I’m pretty lucky that he didn’t get the second score, but for once I got lucky in a heat and I’ll take it.”
It was indeed a great show of cool-headedness and perseverance by the 24-year-old Flores. He showed that he was not only good at riding waves, but was also adept at handling pressure.
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