Although I am primarily a bike rider and my articles are mostly all about biking, of course I have other interests and actually before biking I have to admit that surfing for me is always first. I surf religiously whenever there is the slightest swell here at my home breaks. I go on surf trips to Indonesia, The Maldives, Sri Lanka and of course when I visit family in Australia I also get a surf in time and swell permitting. I'm not the greatest surfer but not the worst. Here I am on a decent wave somewhere in Indo....
This leads me to the title of the post - My Sporting Hero. I'm not sure how many of you follow surfing as it's still kind of a niche sport and not really a mainstream event as far as televised sport goes. Over 30 years ago the surfing world was introduced to an unassuming blonde kid from Florida (where the surf is basically shit). His name was Kelly Slater. Last week Kelly achieved another two milestones in his career. He again won the Billabong Pro Pipeline in Hawaii - kind of the holy grail of surf comps, and..... wait for it..... he bloody turned 50! Think about this for a minute. How does a 50 year old athlete compete against people less than half his age and own them??
So let's just consider this for a moment - first of all surfing is a physically demanding sport - its not like snooker or darts where decades of experience and skill will always trump fitness. The fitness levels of a professional surfer are arguably comparable to that of a footballer, tennis player, cyclist or any other athlete whose chosen sport demands endurance, strength and skill. Here is the wave that clinched Kelly's win. I cant begin to explain to a non surfer just how dam challenging it is to surf that wave. The size, speed and power of a barreling wave at Pipe is beyond comprehension. The beach actually shakes when the waves break. To take that late drop, find your balance, pump high under the lip then allow the wave to envelop you in to a barrel the size of a bus takes an incredible amount of skill and courage. AND TO DO IT AT 50 YEARS OLD!!!???
OK so does Kelly's inhuman skills and endurance as a professional surfer qualify him as a sports hero? Not at all. What qualifies him as a sports hero is the following.
His humility - never will you see an interview where Kelly doesn't praise the other competitors and try to steer the interview away from himself. He even runs away mid interview to hug another competitor who just exited the water. He is notoriously hard to interview for exactly this reason.
His generosity - Kelly supports all kind of foundations and charities. A quick search on Google reveals just how many he is actively involved with.
His ethics - Kelly is an outspoken conservationist and has had sharp words over the years with corporate sponsors that he believes don't behave ethically or responsibly with regards to the environment and the support of fellow competitors.
Last year when the world was mostly shut from Covid restrictions Kelly suddenly appeared in the local line up of Bali's favourite wave - Padang Padang. Locals reported him as being polite, respectful and courteous at all times. He never took more waves than his turn and always gave way to the locals.
He is an absolute gent both on and off "the field". To me Kelly Slater is a dam Sporting Hero in the true sense of the word. I take my hat off to him and congratulate him for winning his eight Pipe Master. In total he has won 11 world titles and 56 tour championships.
I'm Jo Biker and Kelly Slater is my sporting hero. Peace!
