The iconic Kelly Slater is recognized as one of the most prominent surfers to ever grace the oceanic arena. From surfing his first wave at 5 to holding the title of 11x WSL champion at 51, Slater has everything covered. Despite having every achievement framed on his wall of fame, the wave demigod regrets not fulfilling a childhood surfing wish.

A 9-year-old Californian surfer, Jack Keet recently made a splash in the surfing fraternity by paddling the giant barrels on a surf ranch. Nevertheless, the young surfer’s incredible surfing feat caught Slater’s attention, and he has nothing but praise for the kid. Nevertheless, the 51-year-old also wished to be able to surf those big barrels when he was a teen.

Kelly Slater is in awe of the young surfer’s talent 

Recently, Keet shared his commendable surfing spree on his Instagram handle. In the video, the 9-year-old can be seen paddling through big waves like a pro. Impressed by the young kid’s surfing prowess, Kelly Slater took to his Instagram handle to pen a heartfelt message for Keet. The surfer penned, “could only dream of this as a kid”.

Applauding the little surfer, the 51-year-old added, “So stoked to see the kids getting barreled at surf ranch”. The 11x World Surf League champion then expressed his childhood wish as he wrote, “I didn’t get barreled like this til I was probably 15”.

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While the surfer regrets not paddling on the giant barrels in his yesteryears, he definitely made it big after he first set foot into the reverent surfing arena. Nevertheless, at just 20, Slater received his first world title and since then he has been unstoppable.

Slater fell in love with the ocean when he was just a 5-year-old

At just 5, Slater found solace in the embrace of the sea. Ever since then, the surfer never left his beloved arena and went on to become the world champion. Slater has every single title there is in the world of surfing, including the esteemed WSL title 11 times. After winning his first title at 20, the surfer voyaged on his journey to win 5 consecutive titles between 1993 and 1998.

Following his momentous triumph in 1992, the surfer got deemed the youngest and the oldest men’s world champion. Interestingly, at 51, Slater is going even more stronger and exuberant as he still loves to tackle the big barrels like Pipeline and mavericks.

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Nevertheless, we can safely conclude that the young Jack Keet is the next world champion in making as he exhibits the same grace as the 51-year-old Slater represents when he is tackling a big wave, don’t you agree?