It’s hard to imagine that Kelly Slater needs to ‘requalify’ but it’s a fact.

He’s been seen hanging out with US politicians and F1 legends; he’s been grabbing photo ops with Hollywood Stars and even giving some advice to Pro golfers.

Recently, the surf legend Kelly Slater has been at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am with former National Security Officer Condoleezza Rice.

He’s been at his surf ranch with 5X Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

He’s been horsing around with actor Chris Hemsworth and even giving some words of wisdom on longevity in sport to Adam Scott.

But now Slater is set to return to his more natural habitat.

The Big return to surfing competition is March 18-24th in Sydney’s Manly Beach at the Vissla Sydney Pro.

After an incredible 27 years after he won the first of his 11 world titles as a 20-year-old in ’92, Slater is preparing for yet another season on the WCT….an unfathomable record in any sport, esp. this one.

“I’ve always loved the Northern Beaches and having lived part-time in Avalon for 15 years, I miss it and am looking forward to getting back to some old familiar territory,” Slater said.

“I’m also getting a nice warm-up prior to jumping back on tour full-time after close to a year and a half hiatus from competition.”

The event at Manly is a qualifying series (WQS) contest with some of the best up and coming surfers in the world.

“Manly became a mainstay for a number of years on tour. There’s a lot of history dating back to surfing being introduced at Freshwater some hundred years ago by Duke and many years later hosting some classic events with legendary performances by Larry Blair and Wayne Lynch,” Slater said.

“The more recent years have shown some serious highlights for tour surfers such as Julian Wilson and as a jump-start for rookies and QS grinders looking to stamp their mark on the start of the year. It should be a fun week.”

The event is the second major Qualifying Series event of the WSL season and will play a pivotal role for competitors hoping to qualify for the elite Championship Tour that Slater has dominated for over two decades.

“Manly became a mainstay for a number of years on Tour,” continued Slater. “There’s a lot of history dating back to surfing being introduced at Freshwater some hundred years ago by Duke and many years later hosting some classic events with legendary performances by Larry Blair and Wayne Lynch.

The more recent years have shown some serious highlights for Tour surfers such as Julian Wilson and as a jumpstart for rookies and QS grinders looking to stamp their mark on the start of the year.” WSL