Kelly Slater, the Cadillac and Rolls Royce of Surfing, the greatest surfer ever been seen by man was born at Cocoa Beach, Florida on Feb. 11, 1972. His roots are a mix of Irish and Syrian ancestry. He came from a family that is really into sports. He has two brothers, Sean, his older brother and Stephen, his younger brother.
Slater in his spare time enjoys playing the guitar, play golf, and even do martial arts specifically Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Among all the beaches that he has gone to there are some wave spots that is his favorite. To name a few they are Sandspit in California, Pipeline in Hawaii, Miramar in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kirra in Australia, Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, Minis in Ireland, Taghazout in Morocco, Soup Bowls in Barbados and Sebastian Inlet near his home in Florida. Slater was inspired by what Big Todd Levy from obx North Carolina, Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, Mark Occhilupo, Martin Potter, Andy Irons and Shane Dorian has proven and established in the society.
Slater has been known as a professional surfer because of his competitive skill and style when surfing. He has been a 10-time ASP World Champion with five consecutive titles earned in the year of 1994 to 1998. He is known to be the youngest at age 20 and the oldest at age 38 to earn the championship title.
He had a record-breaking surf when he won his fifth world title by the year 1997. He passed the record of one of the legends and Hall of famer of surfing, an Australian named, Mark Richards. With this he became the most successful surfer in the history of the sport.
By the year 2007, he became the primetime winner in almost all career events that he has participated. To name a few he won at the Boost Mobile Pro at Lower Trestles. He has also competed in the X-Games in 2003 and 2004.
Slater is also known for he is the first ever surfer to be awarded two perfect scores which garnered him a score of 20 out of 20 under what is called the ASP two-wave scoring system.
Since 1990, Slater has been sponsored by one of the giants of surf wear industry Quicksilver. Currently, he has his own signature label of FCS fins and already sponsored by Komunity Project accessories.
Aside form competing in surfing, Slater had entered the gates of acting at Hollywood in the early 1990’s. He portrayed the character Jimmy Slade on one the most popular tv show that time “Baywatch”. He also had an appearance in the reality show ”The Girl Next Door.” These became his debut to enter many films related to surfing throughout his career.
By the late 90’s, Slater along with his co-surfers formed a band that was coined as “ The Surfers”. The band was a trio consisting pro-surfers who are namely Slater, Rob Machado and Peter King. They released their first album by 1998 entitled “Songs From the Pipe”, which is named after the surf spot Pipeline on Oahu, Hawaii.
Slater was also given a chance to perform a song with Ben Harper during Harper’s Concert that was held in Santa Barbara. He also was able to perform with the grunge band Pearl Jam in San Diego. He performed the song “Rockin’ in the Free World”
Slater’s ability in surfing also captured the people in the computer gaming industey wherein a video game was named after him. The video game was named Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer and was released in 2002 by Treyarch and Activision. He also appeared in the game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.
By 2003, an autobiography of himself was released by Slater which is entitled, “Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey”. And by 2008, he released a second book together with Phil Jarrat named “Kelly Slater: For the Love”
Slater is an active advocate of preserving the oceans and protecting the reefs. He does this with the help of an organization called Reefs Neck.
All of the achievements and advocacies of Slater made him to be honored by the House of Representatives of United States. He was honored for his “outstanding and unprecedented achievements in the world of surfing and for being an ambassador of the sport and excellent role model” as stated at H. Res. 792. Bill Posey was the one who sponsored the resolution and it was also sponsored by 10 more representatives without any objection.
Kelly Slater is really someone who deserves to be given due recognition not only because of his great contribution to the sport but because of his love and concern for the environment.
“A true heart of an athlete is a heart who loves to do the sport and a heart that cares for everything that is wihin it”, This quote was immediately formulated in my mind after reading lots of articles about Slater. I saw in him a person that is really a good example of a true advocate of the environment. No doubt that he was awarded by the House Of Representatives and that he has gain the respect of people around him.
alenalano 