Kelly Slater on March 8th, 2011 won the Quicksilver Pro.
I think that its unbelievable that at age 39, he's still dominating the World Tour. Unlike others of his generation, he's been able to keep up with the younger more innovative surfers of today.
The types of airs and tricks that these younger guys do are insane but Slater continues to do better than them in contests.
I believe that part of his success comes from 2 things. He is more experienced than the younger generation when it comes to competing and his drive to dominate the surfing world is unmatched. I recommend reading Why Kelly Slater is the Greatest Athlete of Our Time to gain a better idea why he is so successful.
But, I disagree with the claim of "greatest athlete of our time." I think comparisons between sports are very difficult if not impossible given the specific circumstances of each sport. What Micheal Jordan did in basketball is very different and hard to compare with what Slater did in surfing.
Yeah, Kelly Slater is surely defying the odds for his age--he's a beast in the water kinda like the US Swimming Team's Dara Torres, even though I believe she retired after the '08 Games. But yes, I agree with you in that you truly can't compare the sports. Football is different to tennis. I think this is why at the ESPN Espy awards there are categories. But Slater can definitely take the crown for best surfer or be the face of surfing like the Williams sisters are to Tennis or Tiger to Gulf, etc.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Kelly Slater keeps it up and gives hope to the aspiring surfer that it's never too late.