In his more than 30 years on the Championship Tour, eleven-time world champ Kelly Slater has won a staggering 70 percent of the heats he’s surfed. That stat drops precipitously at Sunset Beach, where he only has a winning percentage of 40 percent. But days after his 52nd birthday, there was a big question mark, Slater dug deep to advance out of the opening round of the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach .
Going into the second stop of the Championship Tour it was unclear what Slater’s plan was going to be at one of the few venues to cause him trouble over the years. Still recovering from offseason hip surgery, at last week’s Pipe Pro , Slater was clear that he did not feel he was where he wanted to be in his rehab process and still felt pain through his turns.
Up against Pipe Pro winner Barron Mamiya and Brazilian battler Ciao Ibelli in the opening round of the contest, in challenging, turbulent conditions, Slater managed to put two six-point rides on the board, including a well-threaded tube ride, to finish second in the heat behind an in-form Ibelli and advance into the Round of 32. And while he didn’t win his heat today, dodging the elimination round feels like a victory in and of itself.