Endless Summer

As he prepares for what could be his farewell season, surfing icon Kelly Slater is laying the foundations for a life outside of competition. In an exclusive interview with MH, the GOAT reveals the secrets to sustaining excellence and why he likes his chances of claiming world title no.12

- Ben Jhoty

IT’S 7.45 on a Friday night on Hawaii’s famous North Shore and Kelly Slater is reclining on his bed, contemplating an image that captures perfection. It’s a photograph of the most incredible wave Slater has ever seen. The picture was taken at Pipeline about five years ago. The thing that makes this wave perfect? Not even Slater could catch it.

“I was in this heat in the semifinals of the competition and this wave came along that I’ve been looking for my whole life at Pipeline and just never been in position to catch,” he says, reliving the day in his mind’s eye. “I was close to getting on it but I just couldn’t catch it. It was too intense and I wasn’t in the spot. My friend got a picture of it from the water. It’s just the most insane wave.”

Slater’s eye wanders up to the ceiling or where the ceiling should be. Instead there are rafters where some of his favourite boards lie across the beams. “I have all my guns, my big boards up there,” he says. “Anything that’s eight foot or longer hangs in the rafters above my head.”

This image of the king of surfing at home in his bedroom, surrounded by the tools of his trade and a picture of a wave that couldn’t be caught says plenty about the man who’s ruled his competition in a way few athletes in history have ever had dominion over their sports. If you want to try to understand the secrets of Slater’s incredible success and longevity – he’s won a record 11 world titles and is both the youngest at 20 and eldest at 39 to achieve the honour – it begins and ends with the contents of his bedroom.