Kelly Slater misses out on 12th world surfing final; Caroline Marks falls in quarterfinals
Kelly Slater won’t win his 12th world surfing title this year.
But, at age 50, the Cocoa Beach native showed he still can compete among the world's best some 30 years after turning pro.
Friday, Aug. 19, at the Outerknown Tahiti Pro — an event sponsored by his sustainable clothing line — Slater reached the semifinals, putting together bookends of his best contests in 2022 after opening the season with an incredible win in the Hawaii Pipe Masters.
He finished 15th in the standings, missing two events due to injury.
For awhile Friday, it looked like shades of "old-school" Slater, arriving to the beach just minutes before his early morning heat against Brazilian Yago Dora.
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Saying all along he was "feeling something special" at the site where he had claimed five major victories and racked up an amazing 79% win percentage with an average heat total of 16.23 in 17 previous contests, Slater grabbed what looked like a commanding lead.
But Dora stormed back, putting together two clutch barrel rides in a little more than a minute to take the advantage.
Not to be outdone, Slater rallied for an 8.10 score with a solid tube ride in the final two minutes of the 35-minute heat to win 14.77-14.10.
It was Slater's 11th win in 12 quarterfinal appearances in Tahiti.
But, the magic disappeared in the semifinal against Tahitian wildcard Kauli Vaast, who scored an 8.50 and a 6.93 within the first five minutes, combining a barrel ride and two sweeping turns on the first wave, and continued padding his score to win 17.33-1.17.
Slater, who only rode one wave, admitted later he would have needed a barrage of waves to choose from in order to rally from that much of a deficit.
Vaast, 20, lost to Miguel Pupo in the final.
On the women's side, Melbourne Beach's Caroline Marks gained more momentum for the 2023 season by reaching yet another quarterfinal round, losing to Tatiana Weston-Webb 12.66-4.23.
Marks had missed five events earlier in the season due to reported medical reasons, but gained a wildcard entry into the second half of the season and finished 11th in points.
Courtney Conlogue defeated Brisa Hennessy in the finals, the first women's event in Tahiti in 16 years.
The top five points leaders will now compete in the Rip Curl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, Calif., from Sept. 8-16.
Women’s WSL Final 5:
Carissa Moore (HAW)
Johanne Defay (FRA)
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
Brisa Hennessy (CRI)
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
Men’s WSL Final 5:
Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Jack Robinson (AUS)
Ethan Ewing (AUS)
Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
New Event in Cocoa Beach
Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach will be the site of this weekend's first leg of the Florida State Surfing Championships.
It's part of a three-event series that collects point totals in pro divisions for juniors and adults, and pro divisions for legends (45-plus), longboarders and adaptive surfers.
There also is a slew of junior amateur divisions, starting with Pollywogs.
Cash prizes are offered at each stop in the pro divisions.
The next events are at Fort Pierce Inlet Park on Sept. 10-11 and Jupiter Beach on Oct. 22-23.
Signups must take place by Aug. 24. Go to flsurf.org for details.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Kelly Slater, Carolina Marks fare well at Outerknown Tahiti Pro
