Kelly Slater Hints at Pro Surfing Retirement: 'I Am Questioning Competing'

Kelly Slater Hurley Pro Sunset Beach 2024 (3:03)

Characteristically cagey on the matter of retirement, Slater hinted at the possibility during a post-heat interview at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, which is currently underway in Hawaii.

“I am questioning competing to be honest with you” Slater said. “My confidence isn’t super high. I’ve probably surfed four sessions since [the Lexus] Pipe [Pro]. And I haven’t surfed in about something like five or six days. I just haven’t been practiced up. It doesn’t help the confidence. But I felt fine out there.”

Slater got second place in his opening round heat, falling to Brazil’s Caio Ibelli, and beating the Lexus Pipe Pro winner, Hawaii’s Barron Mamiya.

Previously, at the Pipe Pro where he placed 17th, Slater also talked about his status as a full-time competitive pro surfer, and how he’s still recovering from hip surgery last year.

“! got to figure out if this hip’s good enough to compete in waves that I’ve got to [do] turn[s] and stuff.

“We’ll see. About eight, 10 days ago, I had a surf and it felt absolutely terrible. I thought, ‘I shouldn’t even be in the water.’ Then I stayed out of the water for about four or five days. I got some work on it. And then I surfed, and it felt okay. It hasn’t given me trouble since then.

“But, you know, [at Pipeline] we’re not doing turns. We’re just getting barreled and going straight. The couple turns I’ve done I’ve felt okay. I’m definitely on the mend.”

At Sunset, he was doing turns. And everything looked pretty much normal. But who knows – this year, some of the biggest names in pro surfing are either retiring, or taking time off. Could Slater’s big announcement be next?