After a judges’ decision went against him in Round 2 of last year’s J-Bay Open, the fiery Frenchman opted first for the sarcastic hand-clap, then for a solid “storming the judges’ tower” routine. “Jeremy has always been a bit like that, it’s part of his personality,” said one ASP judge who asked to remain anonymous. “But in 15 years of judging tour surfing I’ve never seen a surfer lose it like that, even if he did calm down quickly afterwards.” Head judge Richie Porta later revealed that in addition to the verbal assault there had also been “a physical one”, and that it “could have turned into a fight.”

Flores was banned from competing for forty days and forty nights; since his return — and this year in particular — he has looked like the Jeremy of old, and currently sits once again in the world’s top ten.