“So next year I’m gonna… make a last run at a title. Then I’ll go find the best waves on earth til my last day.” Photo: WSL/Kelly Cestari
The champ wants one more shot. One opportunity… at a world title.
Yesterday, we reported that in a recent interview between Kelly Slater and the WSL, Kelly explained he felt inspired to give a 12th world tilt one more go in 2017. It was pretty clear then that after 2017, he’d retire from competition. But today, Kelly took to Instagram to explain his retirement plans in greater detail.
“Hugely inspired by the young guys on tour these past few months and what @john_john_florence has accomplished this year,” said Kelly in a post. “So next year I’m gonna get my shit (and my body) together for real and see if I can make a last run at a title.” That much was revealed in the aforementioned interview.
But, Kelly goes on: “Then I’ll go find the best waves on earth til my last day before being freeze dried and used as plant food to make a #Koa and #Monkeypod tree on my property or take the carbon from my ashes and make a diamond from it for my family. (Don’t forget to drop some of me in the tube also!)”
A little morbid, perhaps, for the champ to launch from world title hopes to death in a single bound. But it’s also quite revealing in the sense that a fulfilling life for the 44-year-old means giving it everything for one more year, then, “finding the best waves on earth til [his] last day.” In other words, begrudgingly giving in to father time and recognizing that he can’t keep this up forever. His comment could also use an asterisk next to the word finding – with Kelly Slater Wave Co., he also has a hand in inventing one of the best waves on earth (manmade waves anyway).
