Kelly Slater – The Most Successful Surfing Champion

Posted by Annie Shay on Jul 3, 2013 in Celebrity Surfers | 0 comments

Kelly Slater – The Most Successful Surfing Champion

Robert Kelly Slater is a professional surfer from America who is renowned for his valorous style, excellent wave catching and competitive persona. In 1990s when the internet became a widely popularized must-have technology everywhere, Slater became a famous surf star who changed the course of history of surfing. Before Slater, surfers were just surfers. After he became a household name, he totally changed the image of the surfers. Today, they are one of the highest paid athletes with international fame and popularity.

Personal Life

Slater was born on 11th February 1972 in Cocoa Beach where he still lives. He is of Irish and Syrian descent. He has two brothers and a teenage daughter named Taylor from a previous relationship. He lives with his longtime girlfriend, Kalani Miller. Besides surfing, his interests include playing the guitar, composing sonnets, listening to music and golfing. He is an enthusiastic golfer. He stated in one of his interviews that he want to be a professional golfer when he retires from surfing. Slater has been around movie starts as well. In early 90s, he appeared in a famous TV show Baywatch as a recurring character Jimmy Slade. He has also dated Pamela Anderson and Giselle Bundschen.

Surfing Career

Slater has won ASP World Champion 11 times (5 times in a row from 1994 to 98). He is both the youngest one (at the age of 21) and the oldest one (at 39) to receive the honor. In 1997, when he won his 5th ASP World Championship title, he was named the most successful surfing champion in the history surpassing the Australian legendary surfer, Mark Richards. Along with participating in ASP tours, he has also surfed in the X-Games in 2003 and 2004. In an interview, he named some of his favorite surf spots which are Sandspit in Los Osos, California, Bilgola beach in Sydney, Australia, Minis in Ireland, Sebastian Inlet near Florida, Pipeline in Hawaii, Kirra in Australia, Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, Taghazout in Morocco, Soup Bowls in Barbados and many more. When asked about his inspiration, Slater named Andy Irons, Dane Reynolds, Josh Kerr and Ian Michaelson as his ideal surfers. Since 90s, he is sponsored by Quiksilver, a gaint surf-wear industry. Slater also runs a program for suicide prevention awareness and is a fundraiser and a spokesperson for it. Slater is very eco conscious and wants to preserve oceans and reefs globally. He hosts the Kelly Slater Invitational on the Fijian Island of Tavarua for environmental purposes. In 2003, he wrote his autobiography called Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey. In 2008 he published his second book with Phil Jarratt, titled Kelly Slater: For the Love. Even at the age of 41, Kelly Slater is considered to be one of the world’s best athletes.