The Big Rumour: Slater to Retire?

No sooner had I completed a post on the day's action at the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile than a trusted source contacted me to tell me that Kelly Slater has retired from professional surfing with immediate effect. Apparently the 35-year-old superstar - the only man in surfing aside from Laird Hamilton to achieve anything near household name status outside the sport -  was so disappointed to exit the Rip Curl event that he booked himself straight onto the next flight out of Chile to the U.S. It's said that the Floridian has no interest in continuing on the pro tour.

If this is true, pro surfing will lose the man who holds the record both as its youngest and oldest champion, not to mention its record-setting eight-time world championship winner. Slater has retired before - between 1999 and 2002 - but this time it might just be for good. Watch this space.