Kelly Slater to make 2018 return at Jeffreys Bay
One of the crowd favourites at the Corona Open JBay will be back in the water after breaking his foot while free surfing in Jeffreys Bay last year.
At last year’s Corona Open JBay, Kelly Slater was forced to withdraw from the remainder of the event after breaking his foot during a free surf.
At the time, the severity of the injury was unclear, and it’s since taken the 11x World Champ a year to recover and return to the WSL Championship Tour (CT).
The injury was an unfortunate setback for Slater who, at the time, was planning on making a run for his twelfth World Title.
“It sucks but so many people deal with such horrible things around this world every day that a broken foot is pretty minor in the scheme of things,” Slater said. “Sometimes a bad thing is a good thing. I’ll make the best of my time off.”
The good news? He’s back. The Champ has made a number of cameos over the last year but has been unable to fully commit to the CT.
His return to the place it all happened — at the Corona Open JBay — will be especially meaningful.
Prior to the injury, Slater was hitting his stride in J-Bay after taking down Kanoa Igarashi and Julian Wilson in Round 1. Slater will, most likely, be looking to pick up where he left off.
“My gut feeling has been to use this injury as a platform to overhaul and reset my mind and body,” continued Slater.
The Floridian will meet current World No. 3 Italo Ferreira and Kanoa Igarashi in Round 1 once the event kicks off July 2.
The Corona Open JBay forms part of the annual JBay Winterfest – a multi-sports event that takes place from 2 – 16 July 2018.