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Surfing legend Kelly Slater wins his 11th world championship

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In 1992, Kelly Slater became the youngest surfer to win a world championship. In 2011, the 39-year old surfing legend became the oldest surfer to win one.

Slater, a Cocoa Beach, Fla., native, won a record 11th Assn. of Surfing Professionals world championship Wednesday during the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Search at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

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Any chance Slater will retire? It doesn’t seem so.

“I think 39 is actually pretty young to most people,” Slater said in a statement. “I guess in the past, you would top out once you hit 30, but that’s definitely not the case now. I feel like I’m surfing at the highest level of my career, and I feel like I can keep going. I haven’t thought about it too much, but I plan on relaxing for the rest of the year and enjoying my time in Hawaii. We’ll see what 2012 brings to the table.”

Slater tallied a 15.13 in Round 3, besting Dan Ross, a 28-year-old Australian, by .73 to clinch the title, his second straight that also falls on the one-year anniversary of the death of Andy Irons, a bitter rival and former three-time world champion.

“It’s sort of weird, and I’ve been thinking about a lot of things coming together,” Slater said in a statement. “What are the chances of me winning on the anniversary of Andy passing away? It makes it a lot more special for me. It’s a way to celebrate my memories with him and be thinking about him. It’s been on my mind, and I wrote a story about him the other day. It’s a time to think back.”

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