Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time.
He was born on February 11, 1972, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States.
Slater grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he still lives. He is the son of Judy Moriarity and Stephen Slater.
After turning professional in 1990, Slater struggled during his first two years on the professional tour and was 43rd in the world rankings those years.
In 1992 he secured podium (top-three) finishes in three of his first five events before winning his first professional tour event, the Rip Curl Pro, in France.
He has two brothers, Sean and Stephen, and a daughter, Taylor, born in 1996.
Has Kelly Slater won an Olympic medal?
Yes, on day 3 of the Winter Olympics, America’s biggest victory came not on a frozen halfpipe in China, but in the warm waves of the Banzai Pipeline, thousands of miles away in Hawai’i. The win belonged to Kelly Slater, the surfing great who turns 50 on Friday.