Kelly Slater Scoring Perfect 20’s in Volcom Fiji Pro Quarterfinals. Photo: Red Bull.
Kelly Slater scored a perfect 20 today in the 2013 Volcom Fiji Pro Quarterfinals, defeating Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz. Shortly after the historic heat, Slater defeated Hawaiian John John Florence in the semis and Mick Fanning in the final.
Slater, three-time Fiji Pro champion and 11-time ASP World Champion improved with each round – topping his Round 4 perfect 10 and 9.30 before registering a 19.8 in the final.
“I just want to dedicate this one to my brother and his wife and their kid,” Slater said after his heat. “They told me that if wasn’t there for his kid’s birth, I better take the trophy home…What can I say? What a day.”
Slater’s perfect 20 is a rarity, similar to Shane Beschen’s perfect heat at Kirra in 1996 (back when they counted three scoring waves for each heat). Beschen earned a perfect 30, making him the first and only professional surfer to score three perfect 10 rides in the same heat. Slater registered his first perfect 20 to win the 2005 Billabong Pro Tahiti (by this time they only counted two scoring waves for each heat). After the win in 2005, Slater told Surfline:
“I wasn’t expecting to get two perfect tens, but I knew it was possible out there, and that someone could do it. The waves just came to me and it’s all about the waves coming to you, and you riding them right, and to their full potential.”
At 41, Kelly Slater has reclaimed the top spot on the ASP World Tour and looks to continue his World Title hunt heading into the Oakley Bali Pro, which begins June 18th at Keramas.
