Kelly Slater’s run at the Tahiti Pro last month was one of the most interesting aspects of the event. The wildcard entry made this Slater’s first time in a jersey at Teahupo’o since he retired from the Championship Tour, and the 11-time world champ’s short reunion didn’t disappoint.
Slater didn’t exactly light the entire CT on fire for a week. In fact, he only surfed three heats. But good Teahupo’o plus Kelly Slater is a timeless combo, no matter how brief the experience. First up, Slater delivered a nine-point ride in his opening round heat against Eli Hanneman. It was the highlight of the contest in its first day. Then we all sat and waited for a round two matchup against Gabriel Medina that lived up to the old rivalry’s potential. Medina turned in an excellent heat score (16.10), but Slater countered with two more nine-point rides. It was the second-highest heat score of the contest (behind Griffin Colapinto’s 19.60 two heats later) on a day that was filled with incredible waves and big scores.
But outside of those heats and a stellar performance in his mid-50s, we didn’t see Slater’s full experience in Tahiti — a place he has a long, well-documented attachment to. Interestingly enough, it turns out this was his first time at The End of the Road with his young family. Todd Glaser was there to document those lay-day moments with Slater, his two-year-old son Tao, his partner Kalani Miller, and his youngest daughter Azumi.
“While we were in Tahiti, you could feel the energy and excitement from Kelly to not only get to compete at one of his favorite waves, but to be there with his family. He’s won the event five times before and, from my point of view, he competes his best when he’s inspired by the potential to catch an amazing wave,” Glaser says. “My approach in making this film was to show an intimate look at what it’s like to experience surfing at the highest level through the eyes of his son, Tao. We’ve seen Kelly time and time again pushing himself over the ledge and onto the podium. Rarely have we seen an intimate look into the process and life outside of the jersey. Kelly gave us permission into his world, and I wanted to celebrate those moments by capturing them in a personal and beautiful way.”
