Age is just a number for 11-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater. Days before his 50th birthday, he earned the top spot at the prestigious Billabong Pro Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, dropping into a massive barreling wave. In an interview for "LA Times Today," Slater talked with host Lisa McRee about his victory and what he sees for the future of surfing.
Slater was the youngest world champion of surfing at age 20 and then the oldest world champion when he was 39. He shared how his most recent win felt as his 50th birthday nears.
"This has been the event that I've focused really my whole career around. Pipeline was the ultimate challenge when I was a little kid looking at surf magazines and imagining myself going to Hawaii and being able to get over my fear of surfing big waves. Pipeline is really the ultimate challenge. There are bigger waves, there are more dangerous waves, but this is the one that really has been the crux of that in surfing for many decades," Slater said.
Women competed at Pipeline for the first time this year, entering a competitive field that men usually dominate. Moana Jones Wong took home first place in the women's competition, a victory that Slater said was "hers to lose."
"It's been a challenging one for the women because they haven't traditionally spent a lot of time in this lineup. It's a super intense lineup on an average day. There's between 50 and 70 people competing, battling for every set of waves that comes. You have everyone from young kids to the old sea pirates, the guys who have been out there forever and everyone in between. Pipeline is just an intense crowd and it's a super testosterone filled energy. If you're not out there all the time and getting your face familiar with the people who are out there, it's tough to find your place and get waves," he said.
Slater weighed in on how age factors into competitive surfing and if he has any plans to slow down.
"When I turned professional at 18, the oldest guy on the world tour at that time would have been in his late 20s. There wasn't a precedent set even into the 30s. I think 30 was ancient. My heroes were all like 28, 29, when they were retiring. I quit when I was 26 for three years, came back when I was 30 and I was really written out of the picture. I went on to win five world titles in my 30s, and I think that started to give me a different inspiration and goal, which was to see at what age I can still be relevant or be a threat in any conditions. At 49, I won Pipeline. It was the last contest I'll surf in my 40s, and it's probably the biggest challenge that we have, at least in my eyes. I'm super proud of myself," Slater said.
With the pandemic continuing, the World Surf League said if surfers do not get vaccinated, they might not be able to compete. The Australian sports minister has told athletes that they cannot participate in Australia if they are not inoculated. Slater said that while that won't be an issue for him, he does believe in medical privacy and is against vaccine mandates.
Scientists predict that there will be changes in breaks and swells due to warming oceans. That could impact the surfing community.
"Obviously, the climate change argument becomes divisive. I think what we can all agree on is that we're polluting this Earth. Right now, we're polluting the air and the water. There are so many chemicals that we're exposed to every day, and these are life threatening things. So, we should focus more on the fact that there is a pollution problem. We can all agree to that and work together on that thing. Whether the seas are going to rise or not during our lifetimes, enough to change the places that I love and surf, I don't know. I try to be lighthearted about it. But look, we're dealing with some horrible, catastrophic pollution caused by humans on this Earth, and it needs to be addressed and there needs to be repercussions for corporations and people doing that," Slater said.
Many younger surfers are more concerned now about head injuries that Slater has survived. He shared what he sees for the next generation of surfing.
"As far as the concussions, I have suffered a couple. I had amnesia when I was 19 from a head injury. It was very strange not knowing much about [my] life for a day. It was about 12 hours, but it was terrifying. There's a lot of young kids now wearing helmets. Especially here at Pipeline, a whole young group of guys are coming out with different headgear to protect them. I think that's really cool," he said.
Over the last couple of years, Slater said he has been considering what he will do next when he eventually retires from competitive surfing.
"I'm actually teasing with the idea of maybe getting into competitive golf because I've been playing for about 25 years. I really love the challenge there. Surfing is all moving, and all this energy and golf is just still and calm and it's up to you to make the mistake or not," he shared.
There are also business ventures Slater has in mind.
"We do have some business things as far as creating other waves. We're currently working on a project, maybe in Austin. And there's a couple others around the world that we've been working on as well. I'd love to bring more waves to people, make them accessible to more people. Our current surf ranch is a very expensive piece of equipment and technology, so it's not necessarily accessible for everyone. I'd like to create waves that are accessible to kids and to lower income families. Besides that, the ocean is right there and that's free and it always will be. And it's better than a man-made wave. It's just a different experience," Slater said.
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