Kelly Slater

Who is Kelly Slater?

Kelly Slater is the greatest competition surfer of all time. Kelly Slater has almost every major record in the sport, including 11 World Championships, 55 career wins, and the distinction of being the sport’s youngest and oldest World Champion.

When he first appeared on the scene in 1990, he ushered in a new era of high-performance surfing by combining purposeful fin releases and aerial acrobatics.

Slater won his first World Championship at the age of 20 in 1992 and his last at the age of 39 in 2011.

Furthermore, this well-known surfer is a humanitarian and environmentalist.

Because of his love of the sea, he is concerned not only about marine life but also tries to raise awareness about suicide prevention.

In this post, we will go over all there is to know about Kelly Slater.

But, before we get into the details, here are some basic facts about him.

He won it five years in a row, breaking surfer Mark Richards’ record.

He’s also won numerous additional championships, such as ‘Boost Mobile Pro,’ ‘Billabong Pro,’ and ‘Rip Curl Pro,’ to name a few.

This skilled athlete is more than just a surfer; he also enjoys music and movies.

He has appeared in approximately 37 films and documentaries, including, to mention a few, ‘Surf’s Up,’ ‘Endless Summer II,’ ‘Down the Barrel,’ and ‘Fighting Fear.’

He’s also known for a brief appearance on the renowned television show ‘Baywatch.’ He has dabbled in writing, first with an autobiography titled “Pipe Dreams: A Surfer’s Journey” and then with a collaborative effort titled “Kelly Slater: For the Love.”

Childhood and Early Life

Robert Kelly Slater, born February 11, 1972, is a competitive surfer from the United States.

He is well known for capturing an incredible 11 world surfing titles.

He grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he still resides.

His parents are Judy Moriarity and Stephen Slater, and he has two siblings named Sean and Stephen.

He grew up near the water as the son of a bait store owner and began surfing at the age of five.

By the age of 10, he was winning age division races all across the Atlantic coast.

In addition, he won his first age-division United States championship in 1984.

Two years later, the surfer finished third in the junior division at the World Amateur Championships in England.

He also won the Pacific Cup junior championship in Australia the following year.

More facts about Kelly Slater

Professional Development

By 1990, the adolescent surfer had established his mettle in the sport.

He started appearing in surfing magazines.

Since then, he has received assistance from well-known surfwear companies such as ‘Quicksilver,’ until he secured a contract with ‘Kering.’

In the same year, he won the ‘Body Glove Surfbout,’ a California contest.

Two years later, in 1992, he won the ‘Association of Surfing Professionals (‘ASP’) World Tour.

In addition, he repeated his victory at the ‘Rip Curl Pro Landes’ in France and the ‘Marui Pipe Masters’ in Hawaii.

1994 was also a good year for this excellent surfer.

He won the ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro, the Chiemsee Gerry Lopez Pipe Masters, the Bud Surf Tour Seaside Reef, and the Sud Ouest Trophee, to name a few.

In 1995, this active athlete won the ASP World Tour for the second time.

He also won the ‘Quiksilver Pro’ in Indonesia, the ‘Chiemsee Pipe Masters,’ and Hawaii’s ‘Triple Crown of Surfing.’

Between 2010 and 2014, Slater won the ‘Hurley Pro three times, the ‘Rip Curl Pro twice, and the ‘Volcom Fiji Pro twice, in addition to triumphs on the ‘ASP World Tour.’

Achievements and Awards

Slater has won the World Surf League 11 times in a row, including five straight from 1994 to 1998.

He is the youngest (20 years old) and oldest (39 years old) man to win the World Surf League men’s championship.

On May 8, 2010, Kelly was honored by the United States House of Representatives for his victory in the ‘Rip Curl Pro contest.

Bill Posey founded it in recognition of his significant contribution to sports.

Slater became the all-time leader in lifetime event wins when he won the Boost Mobile Pro event at Lower Trestles near San Clemente, California, in 2007.

In the final heat of the Billabong Tahiti Pro contest at Teahupo’o in May 2005, Slater became the first surfer to get two perfect scores for a total of 20 out of 20 points under the ASP two-wave scoring system.

Furthermore, at the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters, he became the World Surf League’s oldest surfer (age 47) to perform a 10-point ride.

Other Forms of Media Presence

Slater featured as the recurrent character Jimmy Slade in twenty-seven episodes of the hit TV show Baywatch in the early 1990s.

He has appeared in numerous surf films over his career.

He has also appeared in an episode of the reality show The Girls Next Door.

The video game Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer, created by Treyarch and marketed by Activision, was released in 2002.

He previously appeared as a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, complete with a surfboard.

He earned back-to-back Gold Medals at the X-Games in 2003 and 2004 in addition to the ASP circuit.

Charity Works for Kelly Slater

Slater advocates for a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

He also works as a suicide prevention fundraiser and public speaker.

He has surfed in celebrity events for Surfers Against Suicide, telling the sports website ‘Athletes Talk’:

“Suicide is a terrible thing that can be prevented, and I’ve lost a few people to it.”

Individuals end up in these terrible areas… So it’s always pleasant to come across a non-profit organization that is purely dedicated to supporting individuals.”

Environmentalism

Furthermore, through Reef Check, Slater is committed to protecting the world’s seas including temperate reefs in California.

Following eight shark-related fatalities in the preceding six years, Slater and another competitive surfer, Jérémy Florès, petitioned French authorities on Réunion in February 2017 for a daily cull of bull sharks.

Environmentalists slammed the idea, with Dr. Ken Collins of the University of Southampton calling it “insane.”

Florida Representative Bill Posey and 10 other lawmakers sponsored the resolution, which was approved by voice vote with no objections.

Kelly also serves on the board of directors of the ocean conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Surfing

Slater, who grew up in Florida, had never felt comfortable on big waves until he visited Oahu in 1987.

A powerful northwest surge pounded the coast from Waimea to Sunset, blocking breaks.

When he arrived at Makaha, the bay was crashing with 40-foot (Hawaiian scale) waves.

As Slater approached his car, he observed Brandon “Big Wave” Davis waxing his 11′ board.

Brandon winked at Slater before paddling away, trading waves for the rest of the afternoon.

In his biography, Slater adds, “Brandon’s understanding and grace in enormous waves had a tremendous impact on my career.”

“Whenever I’m about to drop into a big wave, I remember that wink in the Makaha parking lot and push myself over the brink.”

His favorite surfing spots include Mondos in Ventura, California, Pipeline in Hawaii, Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, Minis in Ireland, and Taghazout in Morocco.

Business Opportunities

Slater has previously and exclusively rode Channel Islands Surfboards with his own branded FCS fins.

Since acquiring Firewire in 2014, Slater has been sighted surfing unmarked Firewire surfboards.

In 2016, he revealed his board collection.

As of August 2017, the four Slater Designs Firewire models are the Gamma, Cymatic, Omni, and Sci-fi.

Slater had been mostly sponsored by Quiksilver since 1990 until his departure on April 1, 2014.

Later, he collaborated with fashion behemoth Kering.

In a message made to his social media platforms, Slater states that

“I’VE WISHED FOR YEARS TO CREATE A BRAND THAT BLENDS MY PASSIONS FOR CLEAN LIVING, RESPONSIBILITY, AND STYLE.”

After leaving Quiksilver, Slater co-founded the eco-friendly and sustainable apparel company ‘Outerknown’ with Kering.

Purps, a beverage startup, was also started by Slater.

He also became a brand ambassador for Chia Co.

The Wave Pool

Wave Pool was a ten-year inland California ‘experiment’ to create the greatest inland wave.

The World Surf League (WSL) paid an undisclosed sum for controlling ownership of the Kelly Slater Wave Company in 2016. (KSWC).

The World Surf League held a test event at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, for elite surfers such as Filipe Toledo, Mick Fanning, Kanoa Igarashi, Gabriel Medina, and others.

Since its construction near Lemoore, California, the WSL Surf Ranch has remained exclusive and restricted.

Collaborations and musical performances

Slater, a guitarist, and ukulele player has performed with Jack Johnson and Angus Stone.

He formed The Surfers alongside Rob Machado and Peter King.

The trio produced Songs from the Pipe, an homage to the famed surf spot Pipeline on Oahu, Hawaii, in 1998.

He and his band toured Australia, performing at iconic locations such as the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House.

Slater sang a song with Ben Harper at Harper’s gig in Santa Barbara on August 1, 2006, which was followed by many more.

Kelly Slater’s Salary

Kelly Slater’s net worth is predicted to be $22 million as of 2021.

The majority of his fortune stems from his competitive surfing career.

In addition, he makes money from his own business and endorsements.

His annual earnings are estimated to be between $3 million and $4 million.

He also works as an actor and voice actor and has appeared in a popular film that grossed $149 million.

In addition, he has been designated as a Chia Co. brand ambassador.

He also co-founded the company “Outerknown” and developed the beverage company “Purps.”

In 2020, he was in talks with entrepreneur Michael Schwab about developing a $400 million surf resort on 400 acres.

House, Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater paid $7.8 million for a beachfront home on Oahu’s north coast in 2017, according to Trulia.

The pro surfer beat out ten other bids for the mansion.

Slater is familiar with the location because his family vacationed there when he was a child.

The Asian and Hawaiian design elements can be found throughout the seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bathroom estate.

The tranquil promenade leads to an outdoor pond with a Buddha statue surrounded by tropical plant life.

The main house is 8,009 square feet in size and situated on 101 feet of private beach.

The property also has two additional guesthouses, all of which have access to the pool, spacious grass, and private gardens.

Views of the grounds and beyond are available from numerous balconies and covered patios.

Finished wood and dark beams accent the ceilings throughout the home, giving it a cohesive feel.

Social media

Slater is an avid user of social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

He typically interacts with his social media fans by updating them about new competitions, fundraising foundations, and upcoming series and films.

The URLs to his social media accounts, as well as the number of followers as of 2021, are shown below.

Kelly Slater’s Instagram has 2.7 million followers.

His Facebook has 1.9 million followers.

he has 897.1k followers on Twitter

Kelly Slater is a girlfriend.

It’s no secret that Slater is deeply committed to Kalani Miller, who appears frequently on his Instagram.

However, it is unclear when the couple began dating.

In honor of their anniversary, Miller released a monochromatic photo of herself and Slater when they were younger on September 24, 2019.

They had been together for 12 years and two days, she said in the caption.

Kalani Miller grew up in Orange County, California, with her sisters Oleema and Hana Miller in the little seaside town of San Clemente.

Growing up in a family of designers, surfers, and sea lovers, Kalani developed an interest in surfing, modeling, and travel.

Kalani is the proud and successful co-founder of MIKOH with her sister Oleema, who is also a former sponsored professional surfer.

Swimwear, holiday accessories, and ready-to-wear beach cover-ups were later added.

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What is the name of Kelly Slater’s daughter?

Kelly Slater and his ex-girlfriend Tamara have a daughter.

Taylor Slater, his daughter, was born on June 5, 1996.

She is a multi-medium artist professionally.

Taylor claims she is on the verge of recreating the natural world’s effect on human emotion.

Taylor’s art show in Montauk, New York, in 2018 was also a huge success.

Kelly is extremely supportive of his daughter’s artwork.