Kelly Slater is well aware that the surfing world hangs on his every decision. One can only imagine the mischievous smirk on his face when, on April 1 (US), he hit share on an Instagram message that plainly stated he was retiring. Sure enough, the cheeky post was enough to temporarily send surfing into a tailspin. On exactly the same date last year he had announced he was ending a relationship with Quiksilver that had spanned over two decades. That proclamation proved to be true, so when Kelly announced he was hanging up the legrope on April fools day this year no one could really be sure if he was sincere or just messing with us. For a few frightful days it genuinely seemed like Kelly was gone. As it turned out Slater was having a lend of all those fans who treat his Instagram like the word of God. With Easter upon us we couldn’t resist the Biblical connotations of Kelly’s ability to manufacture his own resurrection. Kelly had died and Kelly had risen and yes, Kelly will come again.
Illustration by Johannes Leak
