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(Reuters) – Kelly Slater said he thought he was going to break his neck while catching the wave that won him the Billabong Pro Pipeline World Surf League (WSL) title for the eighth time at the iconic Pipeline in Hawaii on Saturday.
Six days before his 50th birthday, the ageless American beat Hawaiian Seth Moniz, 27 years his junior, in front of a big crowd that packed onto the famous beach on Oahu’s North Shore.
Thirty years since his first Pipeline victory, Slater was mobbed as he came ashore, a sea of mobile phones capturing the moment as he was chaired along the beach to huge cheers.
Slater said he had feared for his safety as he eyed the wave that eventually carried him to victory.
“I thought I was going to break my neck,” he said of the seconds when the wave was cresting.
“I thought I’m done but I’ve just got to try it. I barely got to my feet. I got pretty deep and it blew me out.”
“I have dedicated my life to what I do. I love it more than anything in the world. I sometimes hate it more than anything in the world.”
The Pipeline was the first event of the 2022 WSL world tour.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Melbourne; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
