Despite Coming Out of Retirement, Kelly Slater Fails to Extend His Tahiti Pro Surfing Record

“If you don’t adapt you don’t survive,” remains Kelly Slater’s motto in his life. The 11-time WSL winner has proved this line from time to time, by his surfing, piercing through the large swells all over the world. But now, it seems that a time might come when Kelly Slater will have to think deeply about his upcoming endeavor. After the recent showdown of Tahiti Pro, this fact has gathered quite the insights. 

As per the update posted by World Surf League’s X-handle, Kelly Slater has faced a defeat from Ramzi Boukhiam in Tahiti Pro. Eventually, the defeat pushed him out of contention for the semifinal spot and also brought uncertainty over Kelly’s next target. This year, his painful recovery process from the hip injury carried out last year took a heavy toll on him. Ultimately, the 52-year-old surfing legend decided to hang on his surfing board. But a late entry and the memorable experiences in Tahiti Pro made King Kelly try his mastery on large swells again. In fact, he has five titles from the Tahiti Pro to this date. 

However, the loss to Ramzi may initiate the end of his career now – as King Kelly narrated in his language, “the start of something else, the start of the rest of life.” Nonetheless, against Ramzi Boukhiam, Kelly seemed to enjoy the rivalry, despite its short duration. In Teahupo’o especially, the duo engaged in a fierce surfing fight this time. 

Coming to the age of 52 years, Kelly Slater trusted his ability to capitalize on his inherent technique and fluid-like movements to overpower Ramzi’s aggressive, power-based surfing. Previously, in the head-to-head fight, the Hawaiian and Moroccan pros had settled the score evenly among themselves. From that perspective, Ramzi had words like, “I got him once, he got me this once. So let’s hope for some more.” Well, the ‘more’ version of the competitive surfing between these two surfers seems to witness the last episode on Thursday. So what is on the horizon for the fabled surfer now? 

Kelly Slater is looking forward to one more wildcard entry 

Kelly Slater’s whammies have doubled because of his defeats as well. This year, he had to swallow a bitter pill through the loss from Griffin Colapinto in the round of 32 in Western Australia. The defeat was thought to be his ultimate show in the swells. However, a visibly sad Kelly could only shows the possibility of entering Fiji’s cloud break surfing event scheduled in August this year. But things are hanging through a fine thread. 

Similar to the Tahiti Pro, Kelly Slater wants to enter the Fiji surfing showdown through the wild card entry. “I have put in for a wildcard for Fiji and we’ll see how that goes,” he asserted on the matter. Therefore, if Kelly Slater earns the gateway through the wild card then it could be his last showtime on the competitive surfing board.

Nonetheless, Kelly’s fans are yet to believe his retirement chances this year. In the past, arguably the greatest surfer indicated about his retirement chances. But here Kelly Slater is now, wishing to give another try to his favorite contest!