Kelly Slater Pro Surfer Download BETTER
Lanell Mesina
Legend in her own right (and part of one of the most prolific surf families in the world) Tammy Moniz sat down with the pro surfer, entrepreneur, and sometimes actor at Outrigger Waikiki for our Surfers in Residence series to chat sustainable fashion, why he loves Waikiki, and the "irreplaceable euphoria" of surfing.
Ever wondered what the greatest competitive surfer of all time has to say about surfing? With 11 ASP World championships under his belt, we think Kelly Slater has a little insight! I remember watching Kelly at the Gunston 500 (Now the Mr. Price Pro) in Durban when I was 16 in I think it was '93. He did this reverse air, who knows what, off of a mushy two-foot nothing wave. Bear in mind, this was before guys where even contemplating aerial bombardment, so this was pretty special to watch.
Champion surfer Kelly Slater has the body (ripped), the lifestyle (jetsetting), the girls (supermodels) and now he has the world. Slater just won his ninth world title in surfing, making him both the youngest (in 1992, at age 20) and the oldest (now 36) surfing champion in history. His new book, Kelly Slater: For the Love, is a visual tour through the taut, tanned world of competitive surfing and how a young boy from Cocoa Beach, Florida rose to the top. Kelly Slater talks to TIME about surfing, his new world title and why he is always late.
In For the Love, you say that surfers are like addicts and that they use waves for a fix. Can you explain?
Well, for me, I can never get enough. I mean, I do get satisfied. I do get my fill in a day, I get tired and want to go home and sleep or eat, but the next day if the waves are happening, I'm out there again. It's not something that necessarily gets old. You push yourself to a certain limit and once you've done something new you've want to keep going, you want to do something further. I surf, I walk, I sleep. It's that much a part of my life. In that way it's very addictive.