Four months ago, Kelly Slater was lying on a couch somewhere, recovering from hip surgery; today, he’s in Hawaii, competing for his ninth win at Pipeline.
The 11-time world champion, and surfing’s proverbial GOAT, put on a jersey for the first time after going under the knife and returned to competition on Wednesday during opening day at the World Surf League’s 2024 kickoff event: the Lexus Pipe Pro.
And, by the looks of it, that hip’s feeling pretty good.
“Tall waves at Pipe today with the short interval swell,” Slater captioned a photo following day one of the event. “Happy to be surfing again after 4 month recovery from hip surgery. Turns aren’t anywhere near where I should be but as I say with Pipeline, I can go straight just fine. A few adrenaline tuns today.”
In his first heat back, Slater took on reigning event champion Jack Robinson and Indonesian up-and-comer Rio Waida. He locked in a 7.17 for a steep, hollow Backdoor drainer – the highest scoring wave of the heat. He backed it up with a 4.50 for a total of 11.67. Robinson ended up winning the heat, but Slater will continue his campaign when competition resumes with the bracket stage, where he’ll take on last year’s number two, Ethan Ewing.
It’s no question that Kelly Slater is the most winning surfer of all time. And at Pipeline, he’s up there with the best. Back in 1992, when he was 20, he won his first event at Pipe; then, 30 years later, just before turning 50 years old, he did it again in 2022.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Slater said through tears after that win. “I’ve dedicated my life to this, to all of this. All the heartbreak, all the winning, and all this crap. I’ve hated lots of it. But I just savor [moments like this.] And it’s the best one of my life.”
This year, Slater’s got a new hip and he’s on the brink of 52.
Can he do it again?
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