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Kelly Slater - Professional Surfer

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Kelly Slater - Professional Surfer - Winner of 11 Surfing World Tour Titles

Over the past 20 years Kelly Slater has been practically unchallenged as the pinnacle of surfing excellence. A combination of outrageous natural talent, unwavering determination and killer competitive instincts have seen him win nearly twice as many World titles as any other surfer in History. The fact that he looks like a male model have not hindered his career either!

Photo: Rob Keaton
Kelly Slater surfing in the Boost Mobile Pro event at Lower Trestles
photo license

Robert Kelly Slater was born on February 11th 1972 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The son of Steve Slater, a bait and tackle shop owner of Syrian descent and a mother of Irish descent, he was known as Bobby until the first grade when he decided to use Kelly.
Slater's father died in 2002 after a battle with lung cancer.

Slater learnt ot surf on the waves at his home break Cocoa Beach. Not really the kind of spot you'd expect such ability to be forged. The waves at Cocoa are at best mediocre and usually lack power. Interestingly enough Cocoa is also home to the World's largest surf shop - Ron Jons.

By the time he was 11 Kelly was already a formidable amateur competitor and went on to win the 1984 United States Surfing Championships for the next 4 years in a row.

With Matt Kechele as a guide Slater did well as an amateur competitor in the US rounding off his junior career with a win at the OP Junior where he beat friend Rob Machado.

Vital Stats
At 160 lbs (72.5 kilos) and 5'9" (175 cm) Slater is apparently the perfect build for surfing. Not too big to surf slop but with plenty of power and flexibility to bust big turns.

Kelly's favourite surfers include Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, Mark Occhilupo, Martin Potter, Andy Irons and Shane Dorian. His style is often compared to that of Tom Curren, although no one has ever equalled Curren's fluidity and Slater has more repertoire.

Professional Surfing Career

On turning 18 Slater turned pro winning the Body Glove Trestles comp in 1990. He was immediately snapped up by clothing company Quicksilver and put on a 6 figure salary.

Armed with his amazing talent and determination - a trait that saw him refuse to fall off the board even in apparently impossible situations - Slater competed in his first World Tour in 1991. He finished 43rd, although he made an impression far bigger than this result implies.

The following year Slater started off OK and then midway through the Tour blasted off and left the rest in his wake. At the age of 20, Kelly was the youngest ever winner of the ASP World Tour

During the mid 90s Slater was unstoppable between 1994 and 1998 he won 5 consecutive titles equalling Tom Curren's record.

At the age of 39 Kelly Slater has again rewritten the book on surfing by becoming the oldest ever winner of the ASP World Tour. The crown was claimed at the Rip Curl Search competition at Ocean beach with one event in hand.

Life Beyond Surfing

Kelly Slaters life outside the surfing arena

Unlike surfers that have gone before him Kelly Slater has broken out of the World of surfing media and is a mainstream sports personality. He has been featured on magazine covers, had cameo parts in TV and film, endorsed products and even been in a band.

It was the TV series Baywatch which made Slater famous in the World at large. He played a surfer (strangely enough!) named Jimmy Slade for 7 episodes between 1992 and 1993. It was at this time when he became romantically involved with co-star Pamela Anderson.

An avid guitarist, Slater formed 'The Surfers' In the late 90s along with fellow surfer Rob Machado and Peter King. The band released an album in 1998 entitled 'Songs From the Pipe' - a reference to Pipeline on Hawaii's North Shore. Produced by T Bone Burnett the album was met with indifference and didn't sell well outside of the surfing community.
Other musical episodes have included appearances with friends Eddie Vedder in Pearl Jam and alongside Ben Harper.

In 2002 the video game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer was released. Based on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater the game features Kelly and a number of other pro surfers and a choice of well known surf spots.
The virtual Kelly also makes an appearance in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

Slater's other passion is golf at which he is unsurprisingly capable. Last time I checked his handicap was 3 - that's pretty good!

Kelly's Romances

Chick's who Kelly Slater has been linked with

A good looking, World famous, wealthy athlete with a side line in acting it's no surprise that Kelly does alright for himself with the ladies!

Over the years Kelly has dated some of the hottest pin ups on the planet including:

Pamela Anderson - Baywatch actress / model

Gisele Bündchen - Brazilian supermodel

Bar Rafaeli - Sports Illustrated swimsuit model

Cameron Diaz - Film star

He also has one daughter, Taylor, from a previous relationship. Born in 1996 Slater only went public with the news in 1998.