Kelly Slater : « It was a confirmed the other day, but we’re sure now »

In tricky three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves, Slater got the best of young Brazilians Miguel Pupo (BRA), 19, and Gabriel Medina (BRA), 17, in his non-elimination Round 4 heat to advance directly through to the Quarterfinals and secure an unprecedented 11th ASP World Title.

“It was a confirmed the other day, but we’re sure now,” Slater said. “I’m stoked. I was upset about it, but I also thought it was really funny. There are no hard feelings towards ASP and mistakes happen. It’s easy to point things out. It was a little tough to readjust and I was going against kids who could be my kids and they throw radical airs. I was hoping for big offshore barrels, not closeout onshore ramps. I just didn’t know what to expect out there. I didn’t know if we’d have air sections and it was kind of flat with a lot of power. The waves were closeouts and fast with a weird landing.”

Slater, who was prematurely crowned the ASP World Champion after a mathematical error occurred earlier this week, admitted that securing his 11th elite crown today was a bit lackluster, but remained positive regarding the mistake.

“It’s a little anticlimactic,” Slater said. “I texted my mom, because it’s funny because I didn’t really have the emotion the other day. This is my profession and it’s a little on me to know the situation and it’s not just everyone else’s fault. There have been a few of these mistakes over the course of history, but this one was a bit weird, but I called Renato (Hickel) in the morning after I won because I was supposed to do this Dan Patrick show and I hadn’t won yet. I knew we wouldn’t surf for a day or two so people could get it out of their system and I could have a few days to refocus.”