Kelly Slater Surfing Retirement: Did Surgeries and Fatherhood Call for a Final Exit?

Kelly Slater grew up surrounded by the beach, and by five, he began surfing. Coming from a family that owned bait stores, he was raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Then, he went on to earn his first age-division US championship title in 1984, and by the time he was ten years old, he was winning age-division competitions all over the Atlantic coast. The teen surfing sensation moved up the ranks, and by 1990 he turned professional. There was no turning back.

By all possible criteria, the 52-year-old has been one of the greatest professional surfers in history. But after 56 event wins, 11 world titles, an Olympics visit, and over ten businesses later, Kelly Slater might be ready to retire, and many believe losing in the WSL Tour might not be the season. It’s all due to a personal milestone in his life, Slater’s going to be a father after 28 years!

Kelly Slater drowned in life events

Kelly Slater’s long surfing career may come to an end following his loss to Griffin Colapinto in the round of 32 of the 2024 Margaret River Pro in Western Australia, as reported by Stabmag. Slater sat at the Main Break after he missed the mid-year cut, all emotional. Fighting back his tears, he said, “It is what it is, everything comes to an end. If you don’t adapt, you don’t survive, and my motivation just hasn’t quite been there to put in 100%.”

In 2017, Slater suffered a complete fracture and displacement of his third and fourth metatarsals on his back foot. Slater was in Sydney for the WSL Tour and to assist his “second dad,” the late John Munro, the president of the Currumbin Surf Club, in his convalescence following brain surgery. However, after that injury, he also underwent a hip injury last year after he got injured at Bells Beach in 2022. He underwent an operation in the off-season and stated that it was getting harder to heal. Since my surgery, Slater added, “I’ve been struggling, fighting through the pain and hoping for adrenaline.”

Kelly Slater has dedicated his life to surfing competitions, having won the World Champion title as the youngest and oldest surfer in sports history. He boasts an impressive 70% heat win record of 280 CT events completed, of which he made 82 finals cut, and likely holds the most surfing victories. Nevertheless, he now recalls in interviews how much he missed spending time with his daughter and how he would be a good dad now that his longtime girlfriend is expecting this year. He has succeeded in creating both a surfing and a little business empire in the last three decades. He’s either finding the perfect waves to record, surfing, and uploading it on social media—basically, he’s constantly involved with the sport. Given his attachment, is he really retiring?

Did Kelly Slater mention another pro appearance?

Kelly Slater has issued retirement comments in the past, even if she decides to give up surfing professionally, hence, until he doesn’t appear on some Tour no one knows.  Some might recall that, at 26, he announced his retirement from pro scenes after winning five straight world titles between 1994 and 1998. Only to rejoin the circuit and win an additional five titles. He maintained the mystery around his presence at the next Tour in August in Fiji, saying, “I have put in for a wildcard for Fiji and we’ll see how that goes.” He further added, “I’ve had a fight with this wave [at Margaret River] my whole career, so it’s not necessarily the wave I want to end on.”

Furthermore, a lot is going on in Kelly Slater’s life. On Tuesday, March 19, Kalani Miller, Slater’s girlfriend of 16 years, announced her pregnancy in an Instagram collab reel. Well, wishes poured in from fans and many greats from the surfing and swimming professions. While recovering, he also confessed to a previous regret of prioritizing his job over his daughter many years ago. Will this acknowledgment ultimately prevent him from pursuing a career as a professional surfer? Only time will tell.