“Broke Those Barriers”: Paying Homage to Bruce Lee, Kelly Slater and Laird Hamilton, Modern Surfing Sensation Kai Lenny Did His Part for a Sustainable Future

Kai Lenny is a modern surfing sensation. The big-wave surfer has won multiple Stand Up Paddling world titles in the last decade. However, while traveling the world to compete, he has also seen how the oceans have become polluted with plastics.

Earlier this year, Lenny sat down for an interview with Forbes Magazine where he spoke about fighting for a sustainable future and paid homage to his inspirations.

Passionate about saving the waves he is surfing

The 2013 Stand Up Paddling Overall World Champion is passionate about saving the oceans. As an athlete who spends most of his time in the raging water, Lenny is all too familiar with plastic pollution. He has collaborated with A New Earth Project, an organization that aims to eliminate plastic pollution from all water bodies. Lenny has signed up as their new global advocate in an attempt to help raise awareness.

“It’s amazing to see people and groups that care so much about the world we live in,” said Lenny during the interview with Forbes Magazine. Lenny also paid homage to his heroes Kelly Slater and Laird Hamilton during the interview. Among those not related to surfing, Lenny named Bruce Lee as one of his biggest inspirations.

The Strapped Crew, which included Laird Hamilton, has inspired Lenny from a young age. “They were the first surfers to tow into unrideable waves and broke those barriers and did it in such a cool way,” said Lenny. Many fans regard Hamilton as the best big-wave surfer of all time. He is also the co-inventor of tow-in surfing.

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“I respect and look to Kelly Slater,” said Lenny. Slater is arguably the finest competitive surfer in history, and also the youngest and the oldest surfer to win the World Surfing League. 

The man who inspires all

While Bruce Lee and Kelly Slater inspire Lenny, Slater himself is a massive Bruce Lee fan. The 11-time WSL winner has also practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for over a decade. In 2013, UFC president Dana White sent Slater a special gift.

Slater uploaded a picture of the limited edition gift on Instagram. “Kelly, I’m a huge fan of Bruce and I figured probably you are too,” White wrote on a card. Besides thanking Dana White, the surfing legend praised Lee. “How many seeds has this guy planted in people’s minds over the years?!” wrote Slater in the caption.

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It looks like Lee is still planting the seeds of inspiration in the minds of millions.