Surfing legend and 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater is set to make his return to the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour as a wildcard for the 2025 Lexus Trestles Pro Presented by Outerknown, marking yet another chapter in a storied career that spans more than three decades.
Following the Mid-season Cut at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, Slater will rejoin the CT field for Stop No. 8, bringing his enduring talent and competitive fire back to the waves at Lower Trestles, a location steeped in personal and professional history for the 53-year-old icon.
The event, scheduled to run between 9 and 17 June 2025, will be the first CT competition following the reduced field selection. From Stop No. 8 onwards, only 24 men and 12 women remain in contention, vying for a place in the Final 5and a coveted berth at the Lexus WSL Finals in Cloudbreak, Fiji, where the 2025 World Champions will ultimately be crowned.
For Kelly Slater, Lower Trestles isn’t just another tour stop – it’s a wave woven deeply into the fabric of his career and personal life.
“Trestles has been an ongoing great memory for the past 35 years since I won my first event as a professional there,” Slater reflected. “I’ve had a number of great wins there while on Tour, and it’s my girlfriend’s hometown and a second home to me.”
His return to the competition at Trestles also coincides with a significant milestone for Outerknown, the sustainable apparel brand Slater co-founded and the event’s presenting sponsor.
“Surfing this event obviously makes good sense with Outerknown sponsoring the event and celebrating our 10th anniversary,” he added. “At Outerknown we do things a bit differently and this is a different twist for me being the underdog.”
Slater has already made a wildcard appearance this year at the 2025 Lexus Pipe Pro, where he notched a Quarterfinal finish in his 33rd CT event at Pipeline. His competitive sharpness, even after stepping away from full-time competition, remains undeniable.
Now, with a narrowed field of elite competitors and iconic conditions at Lower Trestles, Slater’s wildcard presence introduces an unpredictable and exhilarating element to the contest. As he put it, “I’m looking forward to competing as a wildcard and surf against a top seed or two straight away. I’m honoured and excited to compete next month.”
Trestles Looking Ahead to Olympic Waters
Adding further weight to the upcoming event, Lower Trestles was recently announced as the surfing venue for the LA 2028 Olympic Games, elevating the significance of every performance at this iconic Californian break. While the Lexus Trestles Pro no longer determines the World Title directly—as it did from 2021 with the introduction of the single-day Finals format—it still plays a vital role in the World Title race, especially following the mid-season field cut.
As competitors set their sights on Fiji and the World Title showdown, Kelly Slater’s wildcard appearance offers fans a blend of nostalgia and possibility—a reminder that the sport’s most decorated champion still has waves left to ride.
