Kelly Slater is the greatest competitive surfer of all time. He has an iron grip on nearly every major record in the sport, including his 11 World Titles, 55 career victories, and being the youngest and oldest World Champion in Men’s history. He ushered in a new era of high-performance surfing when he arrived on the scene in 1990, incorporating intentional fin releases and a mix of aerial moves. He captured his first World Title in 1992 at the age of 20, and his last in 2011, at 39.

His most dominant days were the mid-90s when he won five-straight titles between 1993-1998 surfing light years ahead of his peers. After topping Mark Richard’s previous record of four-straight titles Slater tried his hand at retirement in 1999 but failed. He won his fifth Pipe Masters crown and the CT event in Tahiti during his days of only dabbling in contests, all the while staying busy with film, music, and business projects. But after Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson emerged as a new generation of threats on the Tour, Slater’s hypercompetitive drive was rekindled.

He rejoined the Tour full-time in 2002 and over the next five years faced his toughest rival in Hawaii’s Andy Irons, who got the better of him for three successive years. Their heated battles defined the most compelling rivalry in the sport’s history, propelling audience awareness to new heights. Slater finally reclaimed the title in 2005 and 2006, putting an end to the Irons’ era.

After that, Slater was swapping titles with Mick Fanning in the years that followed. His last and 11thth World Title came in 2011, and in 2016 he nabbed his 55th CT victory in Tahiti. In 2019, at age 47, he finished as the World No. 8 and claimed his third Vans Triple Crown Title. And although he just missed out on securing a spot for the 2020 Olympics Slater was not ready to hang up the jersey just yet, finishing the 2021 season as the World No. 14, despite missing four of the seven events. That meant he would tackle the 2022 Championship Tour in the year he turned 50, perhaps the most mind-bending of all his incredible statistics.

While his competitive legacy will never be touched, Slater will also be remembered for the wave pool technology that he and his team of engineers at Kelly Slater Wave Co. brought to life in 2015. The technology has the potential to reshape the surfing landscape for generations, just as his surfing had done for the three decades prior.

Instagram: @kellyslater