The greatest competitive surfer of all time, 11-time world champion Kelly Slater has been knocked off the World Tour during a mid-year cut in Australia, ending his three-decades-long run in the elite competition.
Slater’s fate was decided at an World Surf League event in Western Australia on April 21, a huge shock to the surfing world as the 51-year-old had voiced hope of representing the United States at next year’s Olympics at Teahupoo, Tahiti, a spot secured through this year’s World Surf League rankings.
The mid-year cut – a new, controversial format that started last year – also knocked off San Clemente surfer Kolohe Andino, who joined the World Tour in 2012. Andino was part of Team USA at the sport’s debut at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto is high enough on the rankings to secure his spot on the tour and if he keeps up strong results could end up competing for a world championship title in his backyard at Lower Trestles this September.
Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue, a longtime veteran among the elite World Tour surfers, was also knocked off tour and will also have to fight her way back through the Challenger Series.
The new format forces surfers cut from the World Tour to earn points at Challenger Series events, such as the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, to regain their spot among the world’s best.
Those above the mid-year cut get to continue on to the rest of the year’s World Tour contests, with the next stop in Lemoore near Fresno at the Surf Ranch, a wave pool created by Slater.
Asked following the event if he was going to be competing at the Surf Ranch, Slater quipped: “I know a guy, we’ll see.”
Huntington Beach surfer Louis Rice called Slater “unquestionably the best surfer of all time, the biggest icon ever in our sport, and arguably in the conversation regarding the best athlete of all time.”
“When the hooter blew in his last heat, and the score came in, the words ‘end of an era’ came to mind, and I had a bit of a flashback on the hundreds of historical moments he has given us throughout the years,” Rice said. “An absolute legend and a stellar, unique human.”
It’s unknown if Slater has plans to retire, continue competing with “wildcard” spots at select contests, or try to get back on tour through Challenger Series events.
There’s a fine-print catch: Because he is a former world champion, points secured while surfing as a “wildcard,” if he is awarded one, will still count toward his rankings. And with Slater, as surf fans know, that means he could have a resurrection the latter half of the year, possibly even making the top 5 finals if he pulls off a few miraculous results.
If he is awarded the “WSL Season Wildcard” spot for the back half of the 2023 season, he would also be given the wildcard entry for the season next year.
If Slater does earn a few strong finishes as a wildcard and ends up as one of the top two male surfers from the United States, which for the Olympics also includes Hawaii, he could even qualify for the Olympics.
Surf Ranch Pro and Tahiti Pro are still on the horizon for the second half of the year, contests Slater typically does well at – and while chances are slim, it’s Slater, and he’s been known to pull off the impossible.
Following his elimination Friday, Slater seemed relaxed and at ease with the unfortunate situation during a post-heat interview.
“It is what it is. Everyone is surfing good on this tour, everyone knows how to surf a heat,” he said during the World Surf League interview. “I’m really excited to see where surfing’s at, it’s awesome.”
When asked about his plans for the future, he replied: “I want to get really barrelled.”
“Let’s see how things turn out,” he said.
Slater, the longest competing and most winningest surfer on tour, just last year won the Billabong Pro Pipeline, just days before his 50th birthday, an event at one of the world’s most difficult, barreling surf breaks on the North Shore of Oahu.
His results this year have been more lackluster, some surf fans arguing due to crummy surf conditions at early-season stops.
But it was during his heat against Australia’s Liam O’Brien that his cut became official. Slater and O’Brien both scored a high 7.83 (out of a possible 10), but O’Brien got a back-up score of 7.70, while Slater only had a smaller second score.
“I really felt like one of the heats (was) where the magic was going to happen,” Slater said. “I felt good, I felt loose, and I didn’t feel stressed about the situation. I was really enjoying the day, it’s a beautiful day, and you know, we’re breathing.”
Andino’s exit follows the San Clemente surfer’s decade-long run on tour.
He still holds the record for winning the most National Scholastic Surfing Association titles of any male competitor.
