More than 20 years after winning his first World Championship, "King of Surfing" Kelly Slater is still going strong.
At 41, Kelly Slater is
old enough to be the father of some of his competitors on the Surfing
World Tour. But the 11-time world champion -- dubbed "King Kelly" -- is
far from washed up. At a time when his friends are settled down with
families, the original surfing pin-up boy is still scoring perfect 10s
on the international circuit.
"Friends that were on
tour with me 20 years ago, 10 years ago, are now family guys married
with kids," he said. "They say 'I can't believe you're still doing it,
that you're looking for waves every day.'
"But I want to surf
better tomorrow. I want to surf better in 10 years. When I'm 50 I want
to be a better surfer than I am now -- for me it's a lifelong journey."
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Rise to the top
For Slater, it's a journey that began as a child growing up in the surfing town of Cocoa Beach, in Florida.
Aged 20 he became the
youngest person to win the Surfing World Championship, smashing the
record books again when he also became the oldest person to win the
title at 39.
Indeed, Slater is one of
the few professional surfers to have transcended the niche sports
magazines to the society pages, appearing in dozens of films and
starring in hit 1990s TV show Baywatch.
"I wanted to be [the actor] Steve Martin when I was a kid. I wanted to be a comedian," said Slater.
"When I was eight or 10
years old I didn't know that I could have a career from surfing. There
were pro surfers who were my heroes, but those guys weren't rich. They
were just surfing and traveling and that's really been the goal my whole
life."
Spiritual surfing
Surfing is more than a
career for Slater -- it's a spiritual experience, providing solace and
filling him with a sense of wonder at nature.
"Surfing is my religion,
if I have one," he said. "The barrel [the hollow of a breaking wave] is
really the ultimate ride for any surfer. It's the eye of the storm.
Some guys say it's like being in the womb.
"For me it's sort of
like time slows down. You become hyper aware of a lot of different
things -- the way the wave is breaking, timing, putting yourself in the
right part of the barrel. It takes all of your mental capacity to do it
just right."
Despite being one of the
oldest competitors on the international circuit, Slater has lost none
of the grace, skill and fearlessness that made him the most successful
surfer in the history of the sport.
On the face of the wave, obviously life and death thoughts start to happen
Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater
He scored a perfect 10 for a jaw-dropping reverse flip at notoriously treacherous Bell's Beach in southern Australia last year.
"This section came at me, and I just launched myself, kind of a 'Hail Mary,'" said Slater.
"I didn't know if I was going to land it, or if I was going to break my board, or if I was going to break an ankle."
Daredevils
But along with the thrills come huge dangers, with Slater admitting that many of his friends have drowned while surfing.
"It makes you think
about what it's worth. But what's life worth? Life's worth experiences
and it's worth the people in your life too," he said.
"I'm sure it's different once you have a partner in your life or kids -- maybe that one wave's not that important any more."
And as technology develops, the mega waves which decades ago surfers could only dream of riding, are now within reach.
Today, thrill seekers
are towed by jet ski into colossal waves that would once have been out
of bounds. But the dangers are just as large, with surfers risking being
pushed up to 15-meters below the water.
"Big waves are a whole
different ball game," said Slater. "You're riding a wave with an immense
amount of speed and power, generally over 10 meters. On the face of the
wave, obviously life and death thoughts start to happen."
Same ball game
Slater has been chasing
waves his whole life. And you get the feeling his obsession with the
water has little to do with the $3.5 million in prize money he's earned.
"The other day we were
watching this dog chasing a ball, and I was like 'God wouldn't it be so
great if you could do the same thing over and over and over again your
whole life and it's still as fun?'" he said.
"And I'm like: wait!
That's what we do. We travel around the whole world just to do that. So
waves for surfers are like balls for dogs. We're just constantly chasing
them."
He may have been playing
the same ball game over more than four decades, but when it comes to
surfing, Slater's love is as deep as the ocean.
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