Kelly Slater Scores Wildcard Into Trestles Pro
As the Championship Tour field narrows following the mid-season cut at Margs, a familiar face will return, albeit temporarily, to the schedule.
11-time world champ Kelly Slater is the recipient of the wildcard into the next contest, the Lexus Trestles Pro presented by Outerknown.
“I’m excited to surf Lowers after having a few months of downtime with family and watching the events online,” said Slater. “Surfing this event obviously makes good sense with Outerknown sponsoring the event and celebrating our 10th anniversary. Trestles has been an ongoing great memory for the past 35 years since I won my first event as a professional there, had a number of great wins there while on tour, and is my girlfriend’s hometown and a second home to me. "
Slater will face off against a top seed, either Italo Ferreira or Jordy Smith, in the Opening Round at Trestles.
Slater, who's 53-years old, won his first pro contest at Trestles in 1990 as an 18-year old. He last won a CT contest there in 2012.
The event's waiting period begins on June 9 and runs through to June 17, 2025.
Comments
Fuck. What a gamble. We all know he can keep up still in the hollow stuff but no way will he get past the elimination round at Trestles.
A few turns followed by nose wipe and then bow out.
The crazy thing is….at least in his mind…..he can still win it.
Those with a better sense of reality would say zero chance. I just don’t get the purpose of wild cards when they can’t earn point and certainly not after the cut.
It's purely because Outerknown is the sponsor.
So he picked himself as the sponsor’s wildcard.
I choose me!
Could he honestly ever choose anyone else. No one has ever beaten him - he has just had bad days etc
Very good, @lost
so true
champ confidence
Gold! Pissed myself.
how's his gormless statement?
he doesn't think it's at all weird:
'makes obvious financial sense;
celebrates me and dylan slater'.
Captain's pick
noooo, pls stop bringing back the old guys
Just retire with dignity. His ego just can’t let go.
wtf.
f&*%ing beat it, old man. just die, get out of the way.
this wildcard business is more damaging to the sport than just about anything. needs to be based on recent performances/rankings in the lower tiers.
Why? The bloke can match it with plenty of the current crop - dare I say competently beat a few of those that got knocked off after Margie's. For me at least as I'm getting older, he's a source of inspiration to keep pushing through lower back pain etc in the water. I couldn't care less if he is still getting wild cards in 10 years from now!
no, nup. 9 times out of 10 he's getting beaten (especially by the post cut crop) and his track record is only getting worse.
he didn't make the cut a few times.... twice? dunno who else didn't make the cut those years but that puts him in their category without the desire, time, energy and fitness to make it back.
if it wasn't for the wheelchair ramp they keep building for him he would've been long gone even before then.
i'd enjoy him in a heritage heat (with Machado or similar), messing about with his carve 360's and high drama arm waving.
if you haven't already try stretching your glutes and hammies for 5mins morning and evening and before a surf, releases your lower back. fixed mine.
Be a classic if he won it.
Be rigged if he won it!
f&*%ing beat it, old man. just die, get out of the way.
Hahaha that was f”@&@g funny!
Kelly Slater’s Long Goodbye. I won’t mind seeing some of his big flaring Trestles cutbacks. I hope they also give him plenty of work in the commentary booth.
He could have a magic heat in him if it was pumping, otherwise, get him in the booth as much as possible.
The last time Kelly looked remotely competitive out there was in 2015 when he lost to fanning in round 3. His small wave game started to slide noticeably after 2012 (the last year he won Trestles). He's been losing touch ever since.
The tour only survives on rich fan money. I’d be happy to see Dirk Ziff having a crack if it gave him joy.
Outerknown Boardroom meeting
Board: ‘now we have an abundance of entitled, homeschooled San Clementians putting the miles in on their e-bikes, who do we feel deserves the chance for their shot at the big time?’
Kelly: ‘Me. That will be all’.
Lol
Na it's all good.. His girlfriend lives there. That's a good enough reason. That's ideal for the babysitting at the in-laws
The CFMEU is using criminals to threaten the lives of honest people and their families on construction sites and you guys are whinging about Kelly getting a couple of heats in a contest he pays for so you get to watch it for free?
There’s mass murder going on in Gaza and you are whinging about some union bully boys.
… if Capt. Corruption (Trump) doesn’t destroy civilisation beforehand: in approximately 4 billion years, the Sun will consume the Earth.
So, why bother even whining …?
It’s a surfing forum and surf discussion. So ummm, yeah.
Skynews called @Nolan. They miss you
Up the CFMEU down with Nolan and all the other Nolan's of this world
thats a dickhead comment. up the crims? nolans comment was of course not relevant, but you just sunk lower.
Girlfriend? ......could you be less committed with that reference?
Who gets the women's wildcard ?
Ok team rider ?
Hopefully Kelly is doing that too. He’s started to get old man boobies and identifies as a woman. Plus he/she/they doesn’t even need to change his/her name.
Bob .
I was thinking that he should have saved it for a Tahiti wildcard, but I realised that after the cut there are no wildcards, I believe...
Oh he will be there if outerknown are sponsoring. Would be much better to see more locals in the draw
I think it’s great entertainment value….he’s earned his place and as an older boy myself it’s fun to try and outsurf the young fellas……even if you can’t.
Novelty value is 100%.
Smart move on his part ...he gets the spotlight again, his company Outer Known gets eyes on it and his 'girlfriend' whats her name gets to be called his girlfriend.
America F@@k yeah ..
Coming to save the m@#%kn day yeah
“Derka derka, derka derka!”
Kelly has had more curtain calls than Dame Nellie Melba!
lol
What’s the going rate to be a naming sponsor for a comp? With the wildcard option.
You’d get at least 2 heats in.
He’s the John Farnham of surfing.
My ears are going to hurt from Joe Turpel banging on about the GOAT through the back end of the Margs comp and into the Trestles event now that it's been announced.....
Old Joey must get some fee CI,s the amount of times he mentions them when ever he commentates, or have a hard on for Brit Merrik
So the 'oxygen thief' gets another go . Well being the sponsor . . .
Another reason to tune out on Trestles comp .
I will tune in for J-Bay . Until then , just gonna focus on family and my own surfing .
Thanks for the heads up !
He could win it for sure. Especially if the criteria award bonus points for perfectly executed pirouette 360s.
yes!
note: i made my comment above before reading yours.
Hi G, we could be out on a limb here, they're kinda cool, no one else does them, challenging for the judges, don't know how to score them. Not a functional manoeuvre ?
Maybe a throwback move from the old days of display surfing? Bring it back!
Lazy old Rincon is perfect.
Steph and Kelly take off together, she does big carving roundies, he pirouettes in the pocket. Beautiful synchronised action from two of the greats.
Surfers be calling it lame, but it's the kind of thing non surfers & mainstream media would gobble up.
Maybe more than the number one draw cards squeezing into a jersey to scrap it out in a half baked heat ?
We just wanna watch them surf.
Style Masters - Dance of the Goats
yeah… just a good old fashioned expression session.
I like watching the guy surf, get him out there, give him the attention, bung him in the commentary booth, just no more wildcards.
Your kidding right. Its not April fools day
I'm going to go against the grain here and say good on him.
If he can do it, why not? Bit greedy maybe but??
Gets an uncrowded surf at a place that is always packed, and he is financing it.
He may surprise us all and do better than expected and give us old pricks a bit of inspiration.
Occy's latest little clip was pretty epic and he is nearly 60!
Could be a good send off, as really he came onto the scene with 'Black and White' and his comp surfing at the time at Trestles was mind blowing! In my opinion anyway, never mind it was over 30 years ago.
I heard on the grapevine, that John Farnhams' got the other spot , good on him.
Pretty wild to think his comp wins there span 22 years.
Even if (when) he bows out early, he will be a talking point and get eyeballs on screens. Probably good news for Italo. Agree he will be an asset in the booth.
Can the Italo wildcard curse continue? Be great to see
The OuterKnown Bossa Nova
"Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The 'girlfriend' from San Clemente's my baby momma,
And when she passes,, each one she passes.
Goes "Aaah"...."
I'll still tune in to watch him surf.
Agree with Steve et.al. he should spend some time in the booth, he's got incredible insight on surfing and competition, and is very articulate. I'd be happy if he was in the booth at places like J Bay, Chopes, Cloudbreak and Pipe too.
Does trestles have a trials event ?
Maybe he sees it as a nice bookend to his professional surfing career - first and last pro contests at Trestles?
Maybe.
We can only hope…
No doubt he can still surf he won pipe only 2.5 years ago. Something most whipper snappers can only dream of. I can think of around 12 of the current tour surfers I rather watch Kelly than. If he is keen to spend some coin go for it. Italian will crush him with his energy though.
You can be assured there will be plenty of people tuning in to watch his heat. If it’s really small I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw a sickie. He could also really embarrass himself if he doesn’t perform well. If he does get through his first heat , then it says more about the opponent than him .
Imagine being that irrelevant and old that you get more comments than your age from people you've never met. Poor fella must be rattled by the SN comments. Probably rethinking his wildcard as we speak.
I'm totally ok with him being there. It's a commercial business and eyeballs will be huge on his heats. Big for WSL and like the old golfers the interest is huge. I'm picking he'll get through the elimination heat then get smashed first heat man on man but high interest anyway. I'll be watching
Anyone ever met anyone that has bought clothing from OuterKnown?
thats a no for me @peabo
Yep that's a hard no from me also @peabo. Most crew i surf with probably haven't even heard of outerknown haha.
Unlike a few above, I can’t stand Slater’s commentary. He is the least self-deprecating surfer I’ve ever heard on the mic - I reckon he’s got worse as his powers in the water have waned, as if he can’t face the truth. He is also ungracious. When have you ever heard him say - “Surfer X was friggin’ ripping..”? He drones on in that uncommitted drawl & things always get a bit new-age-y, too. I don’t care how many world titles he’s won - I’ll be muting the commentary if Sleepy Joe starts pulling him off on air. Metaphorically-speaking, of course. Vaughan Blakey ftw!
Him and Joe are a bad combo, for sure.
The heat becomes 30 minutes of Joe hero worship and Kelly lapping it up.
I'd rather see Kelly and Mick surf than watch the Brazzo flappers and their embarrassing claims...
Next level narcissism
"Bob" tm
The wild card...
Imagine if they referred to him as Bob, next up we've got "Bob the wildcard" in the booth
itd be hilarious if he beat italo.
Ha haaaa! That'd be gold!
Go john john john ;)
^ hes surfing that tomo shape beautifully imo