Kelly Slater is back. It’s been a strange year for the WSL—both Kelly and John John Florence have been injured for the majority of the season. They are two of the World Surf League’s media darlings. While John John has been out since the Uluwatu event, Kelly’s been out for every contest except for the Corona Open J-Bay (in which he placed 25th) and the Surf Ranch Pro (in which he placed 3rd).
After Kelly folded his foot in half, things looked bleak for one last run at the title. In typical Kelly fashion, he kept people guessing. After dropping out from events and showing up to surf 20-foot Cloudbreak, there were more than a few people who thought that Kelly Slater was well enough to surf because of the simple fact that he was surfing. But Kelly responded to those people in an Instagram post. “Lots of questions about competition and the event in Bali,” he wrote after sharing an image of the GIANT waves he just surfed. “Long story short, I am not on the level I want and need to be to compete. I did catch one really nice wave today, went straight perfectly well, and saw a hundred other good waves. When I’m ready, properly healed, and able to compete with the world’s best, I will.”
Well, as of the first heat of the Billabong Pipeline Masters, Kelly Slater is ready, properly healed, and able to compete with the world’s best. “It’s nice to be back in a jersey,” he said in a post-heat interview. “Nice to feel like I can just surf and not worry about it. I’m finally at a place where I can pretty much surf every day and not be sore with my foot. Long recovery, obviously. It’s been about 16, 17 months… it’s good to be back.”
Surfing against Jordy Smith and Frederico Morais, Slater showed that he’s still got it. And while he didn’t win the heat, he didn’t lose, either. He’ll be back in the second round to surf against Willian Cardoso.
