Kelly Slater joined the broadcasting team from The Restaurant’s Bar during the Quarterfinals of the OK Fiji Pro.
Kelly was made to commentate. Part historian, part competitive genius, he can analyze the waves like nobody else.
Near the end of the last quarterfinal heat, which pitted Connor O’Leary and Joan Duru, Ronnie Blakey said “people will be kicking me if I don’t ask this. Will you give it a go next season?
Kelly Slater responded.
I have been thinking about [retirement]. You have to question where motivation and inspiration comes from. When the surf is good, it’s not too hard to get excited. When the surf is not good you got to have a rival or someone who keeps you up at night. Makes you mad. You want to kill them. You want to smash them in a heat. That makes it easier. You figure out ways to win, ways to keep par on that person. I’m probably missing that.
Just as he was finishing his thought, Joan Duru took off on a wave, chasing a 3.23, and they cut back to the live action. We are still waiting for Kelly to finish his thoughts. We are hoping he clarifies his remarks. If he does hang up the competitive jersey lets hope he finds a job next to Ronnie in the commentating booth.
This episode features Olympic Gold Medalist Kaleigh Gilchrist. She won multiple surfing championships in high school, a national waterpolo championship at USC and now is on a quest to surf in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
