Earlier today. Kelly Slater of USA (pictured) scores a perfect heat with two ten point rides in Heat 2 of Round Five at the Billabong Pro Tahiti on Tuesday August 23, 2016.
Image: © WSL / Poullenot

This is only the ninth time a Perfect Heat has been achieved in 40 years of professional surfing. Slater now has 3 of them, a new record.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti (Tuesday, August 23, 2016) – The world’s best surfers are currently battling it out LIVE in the remote South Pacific for the final day of the 2016 Billabong Pro Tahiti, Stop No. 7 of 11 on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour (CT).

Held at the infamous reef pass of Teahupo’o, today’s conditions are the best they have been all event with the 8-to-10 foot (2.5 – 3 meter) waves already lending themselves to a historic moment this morning:

11x World Surf League (WSL) Champion Kelly Slater (USA) posted a PERFECT 20 heat total in his Round 5 match-up with Hawaiian Keanu Asing (HAW).

Despite a strong opening from Asing, the Slater juggernaut picked up momentum throughout the back half of the heat, posting a Perfect 10, an excellent 8.10 and then ANOTHER Perfect 10 to seal the win and etch another achievement in the history books.

At 44 years of age, Slater continues to showcase his otherworldly abilities and unparalleled rapport in this wave of consequence – a masterclass in sporting excellence from arguably the greatest athlete of all time.

Slater will next take on Trials Winner and wildcard Bruno Santos in the upcoming Quarterfinals with the Billabong Pro Tahiti coming to a close today.

“The first 10 of that heat was a more difficult ride definitely, but the second one was a bigger, more perfect, classic tube,” said Kelly Slater after winning Round 5. “I just thought that the first one was a lot more difficult, so I was not sure if they would throw a 10 on the second one. Had I got the second one in any other heat I thought that they would probably give me a 10. I have been feeling good all week. My first heat was a little slow and I had to grind out that first win against Michel [Bourez]. That is just how close the Championship Tour is nowadays. Had Keanu [Asing] gotten that wave, I would have lost. That heat was really close. A perfect heat is not going to happen many times in your life so I am stoked.”