Page 8 - MidWeek Central - Feb 16, 2022

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FEBRUARY 16, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
It was interna- tional news when on Feb. 5, 11-time world champ Kelly Slater somehow managed a yet another miracle and won his eighth World Cham- pionship Tour Pipe contest at 50 years old. The GOAT (greatest of all time) turned a half-century on Feb. 11.
this most prestigious event 30 years ago in 1992 when he won his first world title at 20 years old — the youngest ever — even to this day.
accomplished, in front of a mic, in real time. The stress of competition cleared but his eyes did not.
said, ‘Just stay in the mo- ment, soak it up.’ But I just savored this and this is the best win of my life.”
It’s difficult to express just how astonishing, phenom- enal and unprecedented his athletic feat was especially at 50. Pipeline is 99% a young man’s and woman’s wave. It is death-defying. Slater won
Now we don’t have time to go into all Slater’s records — there’s far too many. Let’s just focus on his winning the Billabong Pro Pipe at this stage of his career and illus- trious life.
The emotion hits 11-time world champion Kelly Slater with runner-up Seth Moniz of Hawai‘i following his eighth victory of the men’s final at the Billabong Pro Pipeline. PHOTO COURTESY WSL/BRENT BIELMANN
“I don’t even know what to say,” Slater says. “I was out there just telling my- self to be in the moment, no matter how much tension there is. Just breathe. So, I was just breathing, being in the moment. I thought Seth (Moniz) broke the combo because of the crowd and I
Thank you for sharing the stoke with me here in Mid- Week’s Central O‘ahu Voice.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Surf Legend Kelly Slater Continues To Make A Splash
Most surfers of that era finished up their careers before 30. It’s only Slater who’s done it — over and over. The icon doesn’t just break records, he blows them out of the water.
I’ve never seen Slater share such emotion and in- sight. I think more than a million viewers were choked up, too.
Letting go of a big breath, he adds, “It’s just crazy thinking back on 30 years ... how many times it’s hap- pened for me ... and gone my way. I don’t know what to chock it up to ... except for spending my life in the ocean.”
He won at Pipeline con-
vincingly, clearly and hand-
ily — against the newest, to terms with what he just
GQ, droppin in 4 U!
youngest generation.
Slater also was coming
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
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