Like it or not, the WSL’s not-so-secret Future Classic contest that happened at Kelly’s wave pool in Lemoore last month represents a tectonic shift. Years from now surfers will look back and at the mock contest as a total and complete game changer. Where competitive surfing is headed exactly remains to be seen. But what’s perhaps most interesting is that on top of being the world’s winningest competitive surfer, for decades Kelly Slater has been integral in propelling the sport in new directions – from board design to maneuvers to artificial wave technology. Arguably, no person has shaped our sport more.
So what goes through the mind of such a person days before the dramatic albeit secret unveiling to a throng of surfing’s who’s who? Excitement and nerves, apparently. Here, Kelly talks about the gravity of taking on such a monumental project in the first place, and hints at what’s next for his perfect wave.
