Kelly Slater, byname of Robert Kelly Slater, (born February 11, 1972, Cocoa Beach, Florida, U.S.), American professional surfer widely considered the greatest surfer of all time. He earned the title of world champion an unprecedented 11 times, including a record five times consecutively (1994–98), and he was also the all-time leader in event wins.The son of a bait-store proprietor, Slater grew up near the water, and he began surfing at age five. By age 10 he was winning age-division events up and down the Atlantic coast, and in 1984 he won his first age-division United States championship title. Two years later he finished third in the junior division at the world amateur championships in England, and he won the Pacific Cup junior championship in Australia the following year.After turning professional in 1990, Slater struggled during his first two years on the professional tour, finishing 90th and 43rd in the world rankings those years. In 1992 he secured podium (top-three) finishes in three of his first five events before winning his first professional tour event, the Rip Curl Pro, in France. His win in that year’s prestigious Pipeline Masters in Hawaii secured his first world title, and at age 20 he became the youngest surfing world champion ever. Slater finished sixth in the 1993 rankings but came back in 1994 to begin a five-year run of complete domination of the world tour, earning the champion’s crown every year between 1994 and 1998. He then took a break from competitive surfing at the end of 1998.During his years off the world tour, Slater appeared in assorted surf films, television shows, and video games. He returned to the world pro tour in 2002, finished a close second in the world rankings in 2003, and won his first posthiatus championship in 2005. He won his 11th world title in 2011, thereby becoming both the youngest and the oldest surfer to have won the championship.From: https://www.britannica.com/biography/...
World champion surfer. Voted cutest in high school.
Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in 1991.
Has a daughter, Taylor, with Tamara, born in June 1996.
Is a record 11-time world champion surfer.
Youngest world champion surfer at 20 and oldest world champion at 39.
Friends with Cameron Diaz and Eddie Vedder.
Oldest to win a pro surfing contest at age 41.
Greatest surfer of all time.
The only to be world champion surfer five years in a row.
Kellys biography "Pipe Dreams: A Surfers Journey." was published in 2003.
Has a record 7 Pipeline Masters wins.
Kellys book "Kelly Slater:For the love" was published in 2008.
He has surfed in over 15 countries.
First professional surfer to earn a million dollars in prize money.
Was a top student, math was his favorite subject.
Was model for Versace.
Has two Quiksilver stores named after him.
Signed with Quiksilver at the age of 18.
Slater Way in his hometown Cocoa Beach is named after him.
Has two brothers and a half-brother on fathers side.
Statue of Kelly arrived in Cocoa Beach same day as he won 10th surfing world title.(November 6, 2010).
Won surfing world titles in 1992, 1994-1998, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Retired from surfing contests 1999-2001.
One of his maternal great-grandfathers was Syrian. The rest of Kellys ancestry is English, Irish, and German.
Kelly was number one of the most influential people in action sports by ESPN.
Was on the cover of Interview Magazine in May 1996, photographed by Bruce Weber.
Kelly and former girlfriend Pamela Anderson were co-stars in Baywatch. Kelly played a guy who dreamed of becoming pro surfer and he won his first world title in real life same year, 1992.
Had relationship with Gisele Bndchen.
I wanted to be a comedian.
I still feel like my best surfing is ahead of me.
Surfing is my religion, if I have one.
Most of what Hawaii has to offer is no secret. Pipeline is probably the,most famous wave in the world.
I surf more now for other people than myself. I feel a lot of support,from people wanting me to do well, and I feed off that. I can send a,positive message to people from what I do.
Surfing is my religion, if I have one.
I still feel like my best surfing is ahead of me.
I surf more now for other people than myself. I feel a lot of support from people wanting me to do well, and I feed off that. I can send a positive message to people from what I do. .
