We all wanted to hear it. Kelly Slater will chase a 12th world surfing title in 2017.
The Floridian confirmed he will give another shot at the title in the upcoming season, but underlined that he feels proud and inspired by John John Florence's maiden World Surf League (WSL) trophy.
"I felt like a proud brother. I've known John since he was in the single digits. It's great to see this, and to be here for this and be a part of it in some way," Slater told the WSL.
"I grew up with the Johnson family and Petey [Johnson] is like a dad and a big brother to John, so I'm sure he wished he was here. But I feel like I'm glad I'm here on Petey's behalf.
Kelly Slater, the most successful pro surfer of all time, won his first ASP World Tour title in 1992, and his last in 2011. Interestingly, he conquered six world titles in the 1990s, and five in the 2000s.
But the surfer-entrepreneur is looking forward to raising the 12th cup - a dozen world titles. It makes sense; fair enough.
"I'm going to take one more stab at a title next year and really try to put a year together. I'm pretty inspired by what panned out this year," reveals Kelly Slater
"So I'm going to take these next four months, get my body together, and get my motivation and see if I can really put together a focused year."
Slater knows who his opponents are. Florence, Gabriel Medina, Adriano de Souza, Jordy Smith, Matt Wilkinson and Kolohe Andino will be his strongest rivals. Let the 2017 season begin.
