Have you even thought about it? What would the Championship Tour be like without the 12 times world champion (He’ll be 12 times by the end of the year)? Would it have anything left to keep us entranced, apart from the Kelly Slater Wave Co.? The irony of that… What sort of legacy would he leave behind? What will he do to keep busy? Here are some possibilities.
1. We would have a whole lot less intelligent post-heat interviews. Without wishing to detract from any of the current pack, Kelly Slater is the only surfer to currently give thoughtful and insightful post-heat interviews whether he lost or won, whether he thought it fair or unjust. He is that surfer who always manages to bring something fresh to an interview, and in so doing, always keeping the interviewers on their toes and the public entertained. The surfers who don’t have English as their first language always give faltering interviews, as can be expected and no disgrace to them as none of our English surfers can do a decent Portuguese interview can they? Some others continue with the ‘take it heat by heat, just having fun out there’ narrative that thwarts all public interest.
Who will take over the intelligent interview portfolio? Connor Coffin. The dude has a brain.
2. Surfers will drop off with him. Parko will most likely go, and Fanning will be gone for good. Kerrzy not far behind, although he might hang around on the BWT for a while. Ace will be looking for a classy exit pretty soon, and Jeremy Flores will most likely tire of doing so many effective comebacks and reinventions, that he will also be not that far behind, along with Jadsen. It will be a tour where Jordy, Gabby, Wiggolly and Kolohe will be the old guard. Imagine that.
3. He won’t actually go anywhere. When Slater drops off the tour he will still be in the news for a long time to come. He will accept a few wildcards to CT events, a few more to specialty events, and definitely score a few into the BWT events. It’s a no-brainer to say that he will win some of these. Then he will spearhead the future of wave pool events, and possibly surf in a few of those or at least demo the pools as they are getting made. He will also find himself either at the desk, or on the mic, doing event commentating for any of the tours already mentioned. I doubt however, that he will get involved in the longboard tour at this stage.
4. He will be intrinsically involved with the discovery of at least one more incredible wave, or wave zone. Do you think that over the last 30 years of surfing and traveling that he hasn't got a few secret spots, or hunches up his sleeves? There will be a new spot revealed, the video clip will absolutely rip your face off, and break the Internet forever, and he will release it hours after the Championship Tour world title has been announced. He might do this twice.
5. He will spend much time in J-Bay. He will hang around for early swells and for late swells. He will feature in video clips and photo shoots before the contest and well after. He will continue to find different lines at Supers, and keep the wave looking fresh. He will surf a few of the other waves around that wave-infested area, discovering a few gems a little further south and maybe one or two further north. He might also end up drinking beer at a few of the local pubs, playing pool with the locals way into the night in pool rooms that are adorned with posters of AI, Hans Hederman, Occy, Tom Carroll, Parko, Taj, Jordy, and himself
6. He will still continue to chase swells around the world and surf the best waves known to man. He will get his fair share and he will redefine what it means to surf progressively into your 50’s. He will continue to froth on every good wave, on every good session, on every good swell, because once a frother, always a frother.
