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Kelly Slater retirement rumors always set the internet ablaze. And there’ve been a lot of them over the last couple of decades or so. Mostly started by the GOAT himself. This time it was his post-heat interview at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach that re-stoked the flame, causing social media and media alike to ponder if Slater’s competitive years are finally (finally) nearing their end. However, in my opinion, Slater’s comments were taken out of context and blown out of proportion.
After placing second in his opening round heat at Sunset, he was asked how he was feeling, particularly in regards to his recovery from the hip surgery he underwent in September last year.
Slater’s response:
“I am questioning competing to be honest with you. My confidence isn’t super high. I’ve probably surfed four sessions since Pipe. I haven’t surfed in five or six days. I just haven’t been practiced up and it didn’t help the confidence.”
Slater’s comment about “questioning competing” was clearly related to his current circumstances with his hip recovery, not necessarily in regards to his career as a whole. I don’t think there is any need to look any deeper into it than that.
That said, regardless of these comments, we very well might see Slater retire this year. In fact, in my pre-season preview I predicted that 2024 would be Slater’s last year full time on the tour. But I doubt that these particular comments at Sunset were intended to leave bread crumbs or foreshadow an impending retirement.
Slater was eliminated from the competition following his round of 32 heat by Ethan Ewing. While Slater still shows flashes of greatness, the last few years have created a fairly large sample size of him getting outperformed by his younger counterparts. In his last 11 CT events, he has only advanced past the round of 32 three times, never with a result better than ninth.
