Do you remember that really handsome surfer dude who always seems to pop up in sporting magazines on a surfboard with a baby in his general vicinity, as he catches a wave that would make the Beach Boys realize that pretending to surf is just too darned dangerous? Well, that dude is the best surfer in the universe and he’s making a case to be America’s greatest athlete of ALL TIME. Here’s a guy who has been the youngest AND oldest world champion of his craft, and has won seven other world championships in between. What a trophy hog! He even retired in 1999 to go let other people have a turn at lugging the trophy home. Yet here he is on Saturday, strapping yet another world championship award to the roof of his Subaru, 20 years after he earned his first one. And nobody cares.
Nine-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater won the Hurley Pro Saturday at Lower Trestles, the same San Clemente, Calif. venue where he won his maiden victory as a pro nearly 20 years ago to the day. Of course, if and when any mention of his win makes the mainstream sporting press in the U.S. it’s likely to be shoehorned between coverage of the latest hot dog-eating contest and a brawl between college mascots.
Yet this win in particular should be acknowledged because it marks a milestone in sports that’s rarely — if ever — reached. I’m biased, of course, so I’ll ask you to shoot my theory down by answering the following question off the top of your head: Please name an athlete — any athlete — who’s been the dominant force in their respective sport for a span of two decades?
After winning five straight titles in the 90s (six total) Slater retired in 1999, which, when translated, means he did more surfing. He chased swells around the planet for three years, visiting friends at every stop, waiting for a new crop of talent to mature and actually threaten his legacy before coming back to competition, in 2003. In his first year back, he fell short in the final heat of the season. But by 2005 he had his title back, repeating again in 2006, and nabbing another in 2008. Now he’s leading in 2010.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s having fun. “I’d let a hundred thousand people punch me in the face to surf these waves alone,” he said after collecting his check for $105,000. “I can’t believe you guys are paying me for this.”
Though surfing has always been viewed as maybe THE quintessential American activity besides baseball, it has never achieved the mainstream success you’d think it’d get because the thought of surfing the ocean with a board as you dodge coral reefs, sharks and epic faceplants that are as cool to watch as the greatest football hit. The reason? It’s actually kind of boring to watch on television. Though I only have the coordination to ‘boogey board’ and my attempts at riding that like a surfboard usually end up with me mooning half of Ocean City, Maryland, I have friends who tell me that hitting the California beaches and nailing a wave perfectly creates a feeling no other activity on earth can replicate.
Unfortunately, it’s a tough sport to learn, boards are expensive and the waves on the east coast are usually too weak to ride. Therefore, America just views surfing as a passing fancy that sometimes produces cool pictures they can ogle for five seconds in Sports Illustrated.
In the meantime, Slater and his fellow surfer boys will toil in obscure bliss as they wax their boards and paddle out into the middle of God’s greatest creation to go ride some funnels or something. Hey, I’m an American. I don’t know their lingo.
***
Could Kelly Slater be the best athlete ever? No seriously? [GrindTV]
-
- CW - Sep 22, 2010 at 4:25 PM
-
It is so wonderful to see Kelley get some recognition in a media outlet other that a surf magazine. His surfing is truly inspired. The drive and focus that he has put into his surfing should be envied and duplicated by other professional athletes.
-
- TC - Sep 22, 2010 at 6:13 PM
-
For a second I thought this article was about Kelly Leak. Think about it, dominant ball player and motocross racer. And his legacy stretches from 1976 to 2005.
-
- Dave - Sep 22, 2010 at 9:37 PM
-
Kelly Slater, champ…… hands down……there is no comparison
-
- SURFGRUMP - Sep 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM
-
Kelly is a legend and a stand up guy. Always donating to the community and doing his part to be a role model to kids everywhere. He deserves more props, and I hope he wins his 10th. Good Luck Kelly
-
- Stepdog - Sep 23, 2010 at 10:23 AM
-
To be the greatest athlete ever you need to play a sport. Surfing is a hobby like driving a car or playing chess. If you want to include Slater into the conversation then I vote for either my middle school bus driver (who always got us there ontime) or the super computer that plays chess.
-
- BC - Sep 23, 2010 at 10:29 AM
-
He’s not even the best Slater. Jackie Slater was one of the best offensive tackles in history.
-
- fupduk2 - Sep 23, 2010 at 11:30 AM
-
He must be the best, I’ve seen him…..nowhere. Maybe the best surfer. Other than that, no.
-
- Willy V - Sep 23, 2010 at 11:34 AM
-
The dude is amazing. He has been dominating since he was about 8 years old.
Oh, and you don’t think surfing is a sport? You obviously have no idea how hard these guys work and have obviously never been in a life threatening situation where fitness and skill are the difference between living (and doing it with style) and dying. Surfing is a hobby but so is tennis, do you think Federer is an athlete? Anyways, good for Slater, the guy rocks.
-
- bige - Sep 23, 2010 at 11:50 AM
-
Since, I’ve competed in football(up to the JC level), wrestling(the real kind), and both surfed(I’m 51 now, and still do it occasionally) and played golf, I can tell you that what Kelly Slater has done over the course of 2 decades is phenomenal. Surfing, while a hobby to some, takes a level of fitness not needed for drinking(and smoking) sports like golf and bowling. Computer chess and driving a school bus take no athletic ability at all, so they can’t be compared even mockingly. Surfing is a sport, because to compete, you need to be a world class athlete.
Paddling out at 6 foot Trestles is not even close to walking to the uphill 18th hole at Riviera. It’s way harder and takes a level of skill much more complicated than negotiating a 100 yard football field.
You inlanders can sneer all you want, but unless you’ve done it at a semi-high level, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
Kelly Slater is a World Class athlete and for the time being, may even be the best competitor of all time.
-
- Felipe - Sep 23, 2010 at 11:53 AM
-
Is not a sport, you say???? Stepdog… Have you ever tried to surf??? I guess not. The strength, speed, flexibility, power, determination to take a 25 plus feet wave into a barrel and making it alive!!!! not a sport???? Tell me one surfer that is FAT, tell me one… Now look at you baseball player, football players those guys are going to die form a hart attack…. Just because is the best sport/hobby/lifestyle/pleasure/feeling there is, and people can literally surf their entire life it does not mean it is just a hobby, IT IS THE BEST feeling in the world…. So get a board and go surf, on the first wave I can assure you`ll be hooked and then let me know how your body feels the next day……
People say Kelly is the Jordan of surfing, when they should say Jordan us the Kelly of Basketball… so, GO KELLY!!!!!!
-
- Stepdog - Sep 23, 2010 at 3:54 PM
-
Life threatening situation? I am in the military so excuse me if i am not impressed by his ability to stand up and not drown. Any game that the winner is choosen by opinion is not a sport dont feel bad gymnast actually have to work hard and i dont consider them athletes either.
-
- Rick Chandler - Sep 23, 2010 at 4:29 PM
-
==Any game that the winner is chosen by opinion is not a sport==
Obviously you didn’t see the umpire’s strike zone in the Giants game last night
-
- Silverdeer - Sep 23, 2010 at 5:47 PM
-
Maybe if he drove something other than a Subaru, he might get more attention for his physical feats.
-
- Eli Arce - Sep 23, 2010 at 11:43 PM
-
You obviously have never tried to surf, you can take any pro athlete & put him on a surfboard & you will see him flounder all over the place. It takes keen reaction, speed strength, balance and most of all courage to perform at the level Kelly surfs . Have you ever looked at 20 foot wall of water breaking over a shallow razor sharp coral reef?. You should research things a little closer or better yet try it before making ignorant statements.
By the way I was a 2 sport college athlete Track/Football, not to mention I acquired two degrees in Exercise Physiology/Human Movement & Sport Medicine. Surfing takes just as much athleticism as any main stream sport.
Eli Arce
M.S. Kinesiology? Sports Medicine
-
- Chris - Sep 24, 2010 at 2:03 AM
-
Slater is definitely one of the best athletes in the world. I would also throw in Bjorn Dunkerbeck, who dominated windsurfing for 20 years – first title in 1988 and last in 2005 (35 world titles in all). I can’t imagine the hours these guys put in to their training.
-
- snurfer - Sep 24, 2010 at 2:12 PM
-
Ed Coan dominated his sport for about as long and I believe never defeated. He is probably even more obscure, but unhumanly strong.
-
- Yeahdokter - Oct 15, 2010 at 7:13 PM
-
So football or baseball aren`t a sport either?? Because those points are given by the hand of a referee…… a judge!
Surfing is a sport… and a good 1 too.
-
- Josh - Oct 17, 2010 at 3:55 AM
-
Stepdog lay off the moonshine and the getting creepy with your sister thing.
