Reigning world champion John John Florence will be out of competition for between 60 and 120 days “or more or less” he wrote on his Instagram a few minutes ago this Friday.

“My knee diagnosis is a high-grade partial tear of my ACL. It’s not great not being able to surf but I’m glad to have the opportunity to pursue new adventures with friends while I recover. In terms of returning to competition, I’m not sure if it will be 60 or 120 days or more or less. When I do return I want to make sure I can go as fast and big without thinking about my knee. That will be my way of testing myself before I put on a rashguard again,” wrote John John.

The Hawaiian also said he was grateful for everyone who helped and sent messages: “I feel grateful to have so many good people in my life.”

Among the new activities he says he is exploring is having signed up for the Molokai 2 Oahu, in the paddleboard division. Together with his partner Kona Johnson, they will complete the 32 miles that separate one island from the other.

After the Keramas event, John John freesurfed and performed an aerial that ended badly and injured him. Since then there have been rumours about how long he would be out, this presents a clearer picture.

If it's 120 days, the Hawaiian would be back for the Pipe Masters.

This leaves an interesting situation for the WSL's two injury wildcards, and this year three heavyweights were injured: Slater, Ibelli and John John himself. We'll have to wait and see what the WSL decides.

I really wanted to thank everyone who has helped me with my injury or who has sent over positive messages the last few weeks. I'm feeling grateful to have so many good people in my life. I've been focused on recovering as quickly as possible and on exploring some new interests so I haven't had time to share too much. The diagnosis of my knee is a high grade partial tear to my right ACL. It's a bummer not to be able to surf but I'm excited for the opportunity to get into some new types of adventures with friends and family while I'm recovering. In terms of competing again I am not sure if it will be 60 days or 120 days, or less or more. When I return I want to know that I can go as fast and as big as I want to without any thought of my knee. That will be my test before I put a jersey back on.

A publication shared by John John Florence (@john_john_florence) the 27 of Jul from 2018 to 4: 13 PDT

The video of how he got injured in Bali: 

 

“John is like any other guy out here, when he has pent up energy from a frustrating loss, he's going to find a way to decompress. Johns style of decompressing is looking for big sections and sending it. I was holding my breath the minute he paddled out. I knew he was feeling jumpy. At one point I looked at him from the beach and gestured to take it easy! Haha. In my position it's sketchy watching him surf like that cause I want him to be ready for the next comp, but you can't tell someone like John to just surf safe. It's not in his nature......thankfully so.” @rosswilliamshawaii

A publication shared by John John Florence (@parallelsea) the 5 Jun 2018 has 2: 07 PDT