Last Tuesday, on the Gold Coast of Australia, eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater found himself in a familiar position.
Standing atop the winner's podium in the surf town of Coolangatta, oversized trophy hoisted overhead, Slater celebrated his victory at the first event of the 2008 ASP World Tour season with a practiced aplomb.
It was his 34th career victory on the ASP Tour, more than any other surfer in history. With eight world titles, Slater is the winningest surfer of all-time, having doubled the total of world titles won by the next-closest surfer, Australian Mark Richards.
But as much as a Slater victory scene was familiar, it was odd at the same time. Slater has approached this year's tour – and, indeed, the past several years, including 2006, when he won the world title – with a pronounced ambivalence.
There was some question as to whether Slater would even show up at the Quiksilver Pro, and now that he's won it, he won't commit to whether he'll go to the next event, the Rip Curl Pro at Bell's Beach, also in Australia.
Coming into this year, he said he planned to participate on the tour selectively, though most surfing insiders thought that his participation would be dictated by his performance – if he were winning, he'd stay; if not, he'd bail.
Slater has said he won't compete at the next event at Bell's, but it's possible that his win last week will draw him to the next event.
All of this conjecture has echoes of Slater's most recent world title season, two years ago, when he said he wouldn't compete at Bell's, then won the Gold Coast contest and ultimately ended up competing at Bell's and winning the world title.
“I was in the same position back in 2006 and didn't decide on Bell's until two days before,” Slater told reporters at the Quiksilver Pro last week. “The one thing that got me over the edge was the swell forecast and the fact that I was in Australia at the time.”
It's too early to tell whether a strong swell forecast will lure Slater to the Rip Curl Pro at Bell's, which starts March 18.
But such dominance paired with ambivalence is remarkable, and is even more poignant at the start of an ASP season, when many of the world's best surfers are rededicating themselves not just as talented surfers, but as committed athletes – undertaking rigorous mental and physical training programs to bolster their world title campaigns, a relatively new and serious-minded approach to professional surfing.
But while the tour's journeymen – hungry for the prestige of a world title, tour earnings and status – are doing anything in their power to win a world title, Slater is floating.
In all likelihood, he won't commit to a full tour schedule, but will wait to see where he stands in the rankings as the season progresses and decide on whether to participate on that basis. But if his reaction to his victory at the Quiksilver Pro is any indication, winning felt nice, particularly after a 2007 season wherein he never really found himself on a winning roll.
“It's really satisfying,” Slater said. “I didn't feel like I really got into motion last year. Obviously, Trestles was good with a win, but the end of the year was pretty lackluster for me. Even getting into the quarterfinals (last week) I was thinking, 'This is the best result I've had in six months.' It just felt great.”
For now, the tour moves on, with or without Slater. Or maybe both.
You can reach Brad Melekian by e-mailing him at sports@uniontrib.com
