Celebrating more than 36 years on the fabled North Shore, Vans is proud to close out the 2020 winter season to declare undisputed surf icons John John Florence and Carissa Moore as the new 2020 Vans Triple Crown Digital Champions. World-renown for multiple WSL world championship titles and serving as an enduring inspiration for surfers and sports fans everywhere, Hawaii natives Florence and Moore honor this historic win in a personal homage to the hometown surf breaks that started it all.
“This was one of my favorite formats to surf in competition. It allowed for so much more freedom, and you’re really going for broke on every single wave,” said John John Florence, who claimed his fourth Vans Triple Crown championship title of his career with this win. “The digital format pushed the level of surfing a lot, and to see all these surfers pushing at that kind of level at Haleiwa, Sunset & Pipe—it was really fun.”
“Being a Hawaiian surfer, especially a female Hawaiian surfer, it’s always been a dream of mine to compete in the Vans Triple Crown,” said Carissa Moore, 2020 Vans Triple Crown Women’s Champion. “It’s a coveted title being a Hawaiian and to showcase your skill on some of the most powerful waves in all of the world, especially in our backyard. I really enjoyed the challenge.”
A significant evolution of the iconic Vans Triple Crown of Surfing event this year saw a new, innovative approach to the North Shore competition through hosting the entire event online, and by expanding the field to men and women. Sanctioned by the World Surf League as a specialty digital event, the new Vans Triple Crown format welcomed more than 100 competitors, from ranking pros to local heroes, in an open, submission-based contest over a 4-week contest period. Each competitor’s ability was uniquely challenged to demonstrate creativity, skill, and determination without the traditional time constraints and equipment restrictions of a normal contest.
| DIGITAL VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF SURFING – EVENT RESULTS |
| 2020 VTCS Men’s Champion: John Florence |
| 2020 VTCS Women’s Champion: Carissa Moore |
| Hawaiian Pro, Haleiwa Men’s Winner: John Florence |
| Hawaiian Pro, Haleiwa Women’s Winner: Carissa Moore |
| World Cup, Sunset Men’s Winner: John Florence |
| World Cup, Sunset Women’s Winner: Bronte Macaulay |
| Pipe Men’s Winner: John Florence |
| Pipe Women’s Winner: Moana Jones Wong |
| Fan Voting Men’s Winner: Jack Robinson |
| Fan Voting Women’s Winner: Tatiana Weston-Webb |
In another historic first, the digital Vans Triple Crown event welcomed women competitors for the first time in over a decade at Pipe, ultimately crowning 21-year old Hawaiian Moana Jones Wong as the victor amongst a fiercely competitive women’s field. Wong’s win reflected yet another silver lining of the women’s emergence at Pipe this past season, and the exciting new potential the digital competition format can expose.
“It really means a lot to me to win this award! It was really competitive every single session. I put in all my time at Pipe and it’s my favorite wave in the world,” said Moana Jones Wong, women’s winner of the Pipe event. “I [also] grew up surfing Alii’s [Haleiwa] and spent so much time when I was younger at Sunset, so it was really cool to surf all three venues.”
Awarding a total prize purse of $200,000, Vans announced the six winners during the official awards ceremony event, which aired yesterday evening. Winners for each event location and fan favorite voting honors were revealed, along with commentary from special guests and live music by Kimie Miner & Na Kama Kai, and headliner, Mexican Summer recording artist, PAINT. Re-live the awards ceremony on www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com.
The inaugural digital edition of the Vans Triple Crown series allowed devoted surfing fans to witness the phenomenal progression of the Hawaiian surf community from a safe distance at home. The Vans Triple Crown legacy remains uninterrupted, cementing the North Shore’s reputation as the ultimate proving grounds for future champions and honoring the decades long traditions of Hawaii’s storied surfing heritage.
Congratulations to all the winners! Watch video highlights and re-live the action on www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com.
About Vans
Vans®, a VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) brand, is the original action sports footwear, apparel and accessories brand. Vans® authentic collections are sold in 97 countries through a network of subsidiaries, distributors and international offices. Vans® has over 2,000 retail locations globally including owned, concession and partnership doors. The Vans® brand promotes creative self-expression in youth culture across action sports, art, music and street culture and delivers progressive platforms such as Vans Checkerboard Day, Vans Park Series, Vans Triple Crown of Surfing®, Vans Custom Culture, and Vans’ cultural hub and international music venue, House of Vans.
Vans, “Off The Wall” Since ’66
www.vans.com
youtube.com/vans
instagram.com/vans
facebook.com/vans
twitter.com/vans_66
Follow Vans on Spotify Here!
About the WSL
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world’s best surfing.
A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world’s largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.
Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com.
WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.
The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
