Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater is a famous surfer.

He started surfing when he was five. He grew up near the water in Florida.

He has won the world title 11 times. This is a record for any man. He is also the oldest surfer to win a big title. He cares about the ocean and wants to keep it clean. He even helps make clothes from recycled things. Kelly is a true star on the waves.

Kelly Slater is a famous professional surfer.

He has won the World Surf League championship 11 times. This is a world record. He was the youngest champion at age 20. He was also the oldest champion at age 39.

Slater grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He started surfing when he was only five years old. He even won his first U.S. title at age ten.

Slater does more than just surf. He plays the guitar and the ukulele. He was in a band called The Surfers. He also appeared on the TV show Baywatch.

He cares a lot about the earth. He helps protect the oceans. He started a clothing brand called Outerknown. This company uses recycled materials to be eco-friendly. He also helped start a skin care company.

He even worked on a project to make a perfect wave in a pool. This project is called the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch. It is located in California.

Kelly Slater is one of the most famous surfers in history.

He has won the World Surf League championship 11 times. This is a record for the most titles ever. He was the youngest person to win at age 20. He was also the oldest person to win at age 39. He has won 56 different contest victories during his career. People often call him the greatest professional surfer of all time. He even won a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.

Slater learned how to surf when he was very young. He grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He started riding waves when he was only five years old. By the age of ten, he was winning contests for kids. In 1984, he won his first United States championship title. He later traveled to England and Australia to compete. These early years helped him become a pro in 1990. He won his first big contest in California that same year.

His professional career has seen many amazing moments. In 1992, he won his first world title in Hawaii. This happened at a famous place called the Pipeline Masters. Between 1994 and 1998, he won five world titles in a row. He even earned two perfect scores in a single contest. This happened during the Billabong Tahiti Pro in 2005. He is still surfing at a very high level today. In 2022, he won his eighth title at the Pipeline Masters. He was 49 years old when he did this.

Slater is also a very busy person outside of the ocean. He plays the guitar and the ukulele. He was once in a band called The Surfers. He even appeared on the TV show Baywatch. He has also been in video games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Slater cares deeply about the planet and the ocean. He started a clothing company called Outerknown. This company uses recycled materials to help the Earth. He also started a skin care company in 2024.

One of his biggest projects was making a man-made wave. He worked on a project called the Kelly Slater Wave Company. They built a special wave pool called the Surf Ranch. It is located near Lemoore, California. This pool creates a perfect wave for surfers to ride. It is not a natural ocean wave. The World Surf League even held contests there in 2017 and 2018. He also tried to build a similar wave in Florida. However, those plans were cancelled in 2019 because of the ground water.

Robert Kelly Slater is a legendary American professional surfer.

He is widely considered the greatest surfer of all time. Slater has won the World Surf League championship a record 11 times. He also holds 56 Championship Tour victories. His career is marked by incredible longevity and skill. He won the Laureus World Sports Awards Action Sportsperson of the Year four times. In 2025, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. He remains the oldest active surfer in the World Surf League. This was proven when he won his eighth Pipeline Masters title at age 49.

Slater's journey began in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He was born on February 11, 1972, to Stephen Slater and Judy Moriarity. His father owned a bait store. This allowed Slater to grow up near the water. He began surfing at just five years old. By age ten, he was winning age-division events along the Atlantic coast. In 1984, he won his first United States championship title. He later competed internationally in England and Australia. These early successes prepared him for his professional career.

Slater turned professional in 1990. He immediately won his first contest on the Bud Pro Tour. This event was the Body Glove Surf Bout in Trestles, California. He qualified for the World Surf League Championship Tour for the 1991 season. His first year on the top tour was difficult. He ranked 43rd out of 44 surfers in the world. However, he improved quickly in 1992. He won the Rip Curl Pro in France. That same year, he won the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii. At age 20, he became the youngest world surfing champion ever.

His dominance continued through the 1990s. Slater won five consecutive world titles from 1994 to 1998. During this time, televised surfing grew in popularity. He took a break from competition after 1998. He returned to the professional tour in 2002. Slater has achieved rare feats in competition. In 2005, he became the first surfer to earn two perfect scores. He achieved a total of 20 out of 20 points twice. This happened during the Billabong Tahiti Pro and later in Fiji.

Slater has also influenced the equipment surfers use. He historically rode Channel Islands Surfboards. He used his own signature series of FCS fins. In 2014, he acquired the company Firewire. He released a line of boards called Slater Designs. These include models named Gamma, Cymatic, Omni, and Sci-fi. Slater also has a strong business background in apparel. He was sponsored by Quiksilver for 24 years. In 2014, he left Quiksilver to start Outerknown. This company focuses on eco-friendly and sustainable production. It uses recycled materials to protect the environment.

Beyond surfing, Slater is a man of many talents. He plays the guitar and the ukulele. He was a member of the band The Surfers. The group released an album called Songs from the Pipe in 1998. Slater has also appeared in popular media. He played a character on the TV show Baywatch. He appeared in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. He even appeared in a music video for the band Garbage. In 2024, he launched a skin care company called Freaks of Nature. This company focuses on sunscreen.

Slater is also a leader in ocean conservation. He serves on the Ocean Advocacy Advisory Board for Sea Shepherd. He works with Reef Check to protect reefs in California. He is a fundraiser for suicide prevention awareness. Slater also worked on a major engineering project. He helped create the Kelly Slater Wave Company. This company built the Surf Ranch near Lemoore, California. This facility uses a man-made wave pool to create perfect waves. The World Surf League held test events there in 2017 and 2018.

There were also ambitious plans for a Florida location. The project was called Surf Ranch Florida. It was intended for Palm Beach County. Developers acquired 80 acres of land for $6.5 million in 2017. However, the project was cancelled in 2019. This was due to unforeseen challenges with high groundwater levels. Despite this, Slater continues to impact the sport. He expressed his intention to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. His life shows how passion for the ocean can lead to many different paths.