Preseason Surfer Profile: Kelly Slater

Leading up to the 2016 World Surf League Championship Tour season, I will be counting down my projected Top 10 surfers for the highest level of men's competitive surfing. A preview of the women's 2016 season is also to come.

Kelly Slater, USA

2016 Go Left World Ranking Projection: 4

2015 World Ranking: 9

2015 WCT Wins: 0

Kelly may be the king, be he didn’t surf like it last season. The guy is 44 years old and it’s incredible that he’s still competing at a high level on the World Tour. However, Slater did not look like the competitor that we’re accustomed to seeing last year. Kelly didn’t win a single WCT contest in 2015, but what’s even more surprising is that he didn’t even make a final. He finished third in Fiji, his home away from home, and he netted fifths at Margaret River, Tahiti and Pipe. Kelly was also able to win the Volcom Pipe Pro, a QS event, last month. Sensing a theme here? Is it possible that Slater is only truly dangerous in big barrels at this point in his career?

Could 2016 be Kelly Slater's best chance for another World Title?
Courtesy of Oziel Marchon

To be honest, I’m not willing to bet against the best surfer in the history of the sport, but his 2015 campaign did give me a moment of pause. Slater did not have those magical moments that we’re used to seeing, pulling out heats in the final seconds with seemingly impossible scores. We need to take into consideration that he was dealing with some nagging injuries last year, to the extent that he even considered skipping the European leg of the tour. He toughed it out an looked good at Pipe before going down in the quarters, but his doing well at Pipe is certainly no surprise.

Many fans have been cringing for years now, nervous that they’ll see a statement from Kelly that he’s hanging it up from the World Tour. It hasn’t happened yet, and would anyone be truly shocked if he bounced back in a big way in 2016 and contended for the world title? Still, his finishing ninth in the world rankings last year felt odd, and hopefully it’s not the beginning of the end for the best of the best. With Mick Fanning only surfing select events in 2016, maybe this is Kelly's best shot to win one more World Title. However, we can't be sure Kelly is going to surf every event in 2016, and this is a big reason that he's not ranked higher here. Regardless what Kelly does this season, every surfing fan should appreciate each wave we get to see this guy ride. 

Follow Morgan, founder of Go Left, on Twitter @GoLeftSurf

Cloudbreak Comes Alive

The Fiji Pro got going again yesterday, and we saw why contest organizers were being patient in calling the contest on, as we saw some incredible waves comes through Cloudbreak. This quote from Kelly Slater (via ASP), a guy who has probably surfed this break more than any non-Fijian, really says it all about the conditions:

“That was unbelievable,” Slater said. “Those were some of the best waves I’ve ever had in a contest. On the 10, I was deep in the barrel and grabbed my rail, but I had to let go to get speed and then I hit the foam ball, I barely made that one. I did the turn and got another tube. On that one big one, it was so perfect and I just wanted to be in the right spot. As I was in the barrel, it spit really hard and there was lots of mist and I couldn’t see. The foamball pushed my tail up in to the wave and I just couldn’t come out the way I wanted to. I didn’t even care if I won or lost, because I’d get to surf again.”

That last statement was essentially the theme of yesterday's heats; the pros were so stoked and frothing at the sight of a pumping Cloudbreak that one of the sport's biggest events of the year boiled down to a simple and pure love for surfing. These guys are pros, but they were all little kids once that audibly oohed and aahed at hollow barrells and open faces. They still ooh and ahh, usually silently, but sometimes that little kid inside gets too excited an makes an appearance, and that's great to see. They're not surfing robots, after all, though sometimes their performance might have you suspecting otherwise.

We got down to the quarters yesterday, and here are the matchups:

John John Florence vs. Jordy Smith

Kelly Slater vs. Sebastian Zietz

C.J. Hobgood vs. Josh Kerr

Joel Parkinson vs. Mick Fanning

I've got to stick with my original pick of Kelly to win it all, but really several of these guys have surfed well enough thus far to make my confidence in that pick wane a bit, just because so many competitors have looked so good. John John has probably consistently surfed the best in the contest to this point, with Jordy a close second and Kelly probably right behind them, though Slater's Round 4 heat was absolutely insane. Zietz has shown that he can translate his Pipe skills to Cloudbreak without issue, C.J. Hobgood is one of the best lefthanded barrel riders in the world and always kills it in Fiji, Parko seems to finally be coming alive this season and Mick put together a 19-plus heat in the last round. This should be a great finish at what has probably my third-favorite event on the tour.

John John's Tube Riding is Unmatched

Watching John John Florence in his second round heat of the Volcom Fiji Pro has made it abundantly clear that he is the premiere tube rider in the world right now. The kid is just on another level, his very own plane of existence, and when that shines through in an event featuring the 30-plus best surfers on the planet it illustrates how simply incendiary Florence’s performance really was. Growing up with Pipe in his backyard has made Florence a tube-riding aficionado, given him a veteran’s savvy in the green room that seems unreachable at the tender age of 20. The sky really is the limit for this youngster, and with a contemporary like Gabriel Medina, a Hawaiian and a Brazilian are sure to treat surfing fans to a rivalry of the highest order for more than a decade to come.

Volcom Fiji Pro Preview

The Volcom Fiji Pro's waiting period is set to kick off on Sunday, and there's reason to be excited. This is one of my favorite events on tour; I mean, it's set at one of the best lefts in the world. Cloudbreak is one of the coolest waves on the planet when it's on, as it can give incredible barrels and huge faces depending on the conditions, and Restaurants is a left that goofy footers like me dream of. Last year Kelly won the event in the biggest non-surprise of the year. Tavarua is essentially Kelly's home away from home at this point, and nobody on tour has surfed there more than the legend himself.

I hate to go chalk on a prediction, but let's just get that out of the way now. I can't in my right mind predict anyone but Slater to take home first at the Fiji Pro, but there are some guys that could challenge him. Last year Gabriel Medina made a nice run on his forehand before getting squashed by the king in the finals. The Hobgoods are always dangerous in any left-handed tube. Jordy Smith, fresh off his win in Rio, is a threat as well. He's been in Tavarua basically since Rio to prep for this event.

The real challenger to Kelly in this event, though? I think it will be Mick Fanning. I love how Mick has been surfing this year, and his consistent results prove that he's in top form this season. He's one of the most focused surfers on tour, and while Cloudbreak might not suit him perfectly, he's my best bet to take down Kelly. 

No matter who wins, these elite surfers will be treated to a week or two in paradise, surfing two of the best waves in the planet in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Cheers, boys. Nice life choices. 

Volcom Fiji Pro Teaser

Fiji Pro waiting period starts June 2nd. Event preview coming soon.