Page 4 - MidWeek Leeward - 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 yet another miracle and won his eighth World Championship Tour Pipe contest at 50 years old.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Kelly Slater Continues To Make Waves At Pipeline
The emotion hits 11-time world champion Kelly Slater (pictured at right 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 / BIELMANN
ations or waves of world tour Martin Potter in the late 1980s legends — starting with three- to early 1990s then to Andy time world champ Tom Cur- Irons, Mick Fanning, et al.
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/woman’s wave. It is death-defying. Slater won this most prestigious event 30 years ago in 1992 when he
He won at Pipeline con- vincingly, clearly and hand- ily — against the newest, youngest generation. This means Slater has somehow transcended over three gener-
“I don’t even know what to say,” Slater says. “I was out there just telling myself to be in the moment, no matter how much tension there is. Just breathe. So, I was just breath- ing, being in the moment. I thought Seth (Moniz) broke the combo because of the crowd and I said, ‘Just stay in
It’s a good time to be a surfer. Thank you for shar- ing the stoke with me here in MidWeek’s Leeward O‘ahu Voice.
Here’s how we
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won his first world title at 20 years old — the youngest ever — even to this day.
zilian storm and now the latest up-and-comers Seth Moniz, 24, and Barron Mamiya, 21.
the moment, soak it up.’ But I just savored this and this is the best win of my life.”
It’s only Slater who’s done it — over and over again — five times to be exact! Count ‘em: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011. He won the other 6 in the 1990s. The icon doesn’t just break records — he blows them out of the proverbial water — literally and figura- tively.
Slater also was coming to terms with what he just accomplished, in front of a mic, in real time. The stress of competition cleared but his eyes did not.
Letting go of a big breath, he adds, “It’s just crazy think- ing back on 30 years ... how many times it’s happened for me...andgonemyway.I don’t know what to chock it up to ... except for spending my life in the ocean.”
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ren, one-time world champ
He’s been putting to the Bra-
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
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