Kelly Slater Secures Ninth ASP World Title in Spain<\/p>\n
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MUNDAKA, Spain (Friday, Oct. 3, 2008) \u0096 Kelly Slater, 36, has won a record ninth ASP World Title after advancing out of Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Mundaka \u0096 the ninth event of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour. Slater came into the event needing an equal ninth finish to clinch the title, he secured that by beating local wildcard Eneko Acero (EUK) in four foot waves at Mundaka this morning.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s going to take a little while to sink in,\u0094 Slater said when mobbed at the water\u0092s edge. \u0093I\u0092m probably going to have to call home and talk to family for it to really hit me.\u0094<\/p>\n
Slater\u0092s 2008 crowning comes 16 years after securing his first ASP World Title at age 20. He is the oldest and youngest surfer in ASP history to win a world title. The now nine-time ASP World Champion joined the tour in 1991 and won his first ASP World Title in 1992.When asked if he had ever dreamed about achieving such a feat when he came onto the scene 17 years ago, Slater was close to speechless. <\/p>\n
\u0093I never even thought about it,\u0094 Slater said. \u0093It never even popped into my head. It\u0092s crazy.\u0094<\/p>\n
Despite entering his 14th year on tour already the owner of most every accolade in professional surfing, 2008 has been a banner year for Slater. With five wins in the first seven events of the year, a second place finish at the last event in France and a Round 4 berth at the Billabong Pro Mundaka later today, Slater is on track to post his most successful season to date. Slater\u0092s winning average in 2008 is 89 percent at present.<\/p>\n
\u0093I felt a lot more at ease this year,\u0094 Slater said. \u0093It\u0092s probably my personal life. That\u0092s the biggest change in my life. I\u0092m happy and settled and I\u0092ve got the support there that just feels amazing. Nothing else has really changed, I\u0092ve worked with my boards a little bit here and there and I\u0092ve always worked on my mind and my emotions, but something just really clicked into place this year.\u0094<\/p>\n
After winning his first ASP World Tour title in 1992 and claiming five titles in a row from 1994 to 1998, Slater went into semi-retirement at age 26 citing burnout and lack of motivation. He returned to the tour full-time in 2003, lost a heart-wrenching title race to Andy Irons (HAW) that same year, and wasn\u0092t able to reclaim the crown until 2005. Slater cruised to title No. 8 in 2006, finished World No. 3 in 2007 and is once again World No. 1 after winning his ninth ASP World Title today.<\/p>\n
\u0093In 1996 I had a good year \u0096 I won 7 out of 13,\u0094 Slater said. \u0093In 1996 I won five events of 12 \u0096 but both years I was counting ninths at the end of the year. This year I\u0092ve won five events of eight, I\u0092m sitting on a second and I still have a throwaway to spare. The depth of success I\u0092ve had this season is the deepest of my career.\u0094<\/p>\n
With such a monumental lead so early in the season, it was less a matter of if Slater would win the title, and more a matter of when.<\/p>\n
\u0093I think there were key heats this year, a few I had with Taj, Parko and even Bobby in Fiji, where I got waves under the other surfers\u0092 priority and won important heats, that it really sunk in that it was going to happen,\u0094 Slater said. \u0093It was probably JBay where it really sunk in.\u0094<\/p>\n
Slater was quick to acknowledge 2007 ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) and the support he\u0092s given him both professionally and personally today.<\/p>\n
\u0093When Mick won last year I was obviously really stoked for him.\u0094 Slater said. \u0093I think I knew from the first contest last year that Mick was going to win. He was really focused and he didn\u0092t have anything standing in his way mentally or emotionally. He was the one person who sent me text when I was looking at leaving that said, \u0091We need you to stay on tour. Don\u0092t worry, you\u0092ll find that personal stuff. It will happen,\u0092 and now it has. Even though he is the toughest competitor on tour he\u0092s always been a good friend and I have a lot of respect for Mick.\u0094<\/p>\n
Because Slater lost interest after winning five titles in a row from \u009294 to \u009298, and then toyed with retirement again after winning No. 7 and No. 8 right after each other, it would seem like winning back to back titles might have lost its appeal for the world\u0092s most decorated surfer.<\/p>\n
\u0093No, winning them back to back is still pretty sweet,\u0094 Slater said with a smile. \u0093If I can go back to back starting now that would be pretty sweet. It is really nice to come back and win it after you lost it the year before though. I\u0092m sure if Mick were to come back and win one, or Andy were to come back and win one \u0096 C.J., any of those guys, they would definitely say how sweet it is to win it again.\u0094<\/p>\n
For Kelly Slater\u0092s complete biography and career details visit www.aspworldtour.com\/kellyslater.<\/p>\n
ASP Records Held by Kelly Slater:<\/p>\n
Most ASP World Titles: Nine (2008, 2006, 2005, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1992)<\/p>\n
Most ASP World Tour Victories: 39<\/p>\n
Oldest ASP World Champion: 36-years-old (2008)<\/p>\n
Youngest ASP World Champion: 20-year-old (1992)<\/p>\n
Highest Heat Total: Only perfect 20 out of 20 ever earned (Tahiti \u0096 2005)<\/p>\n
Most Event Wins in a Season: Seven in 1996<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kelly Slater Secures Ninth ASP World Title in Spain MUNDAKA, Spain (Friday, Oct. 3, 2008) \u0096 Kelly Slater, 36, has won a record ninth ASP World Title after advancing out of Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Mundaka \u0096 the ninth event of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour. Slater came into the event … Continue reading “Kelly Slater Secures Ninth ASP World Title in Spain”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}