I'm stuck in an elevator with Kelly Slater, and my goal is to convince him that he should open wave pools all over America especially in states that don't have access to the ocean.
Hello Kelly, my name is Ryan Fochtman. First off I'm a huge fan of your
surfing career and what you have done to the surf community with cleaning the beaches
and oceans as well as shaping the overall way contests are run and scored in
the world surf league. I’m aware you just released the longest, open barrel
man-made wave in the world. Recently an article came out sharing the wave pool
was located in central California. As a fellow surfer originally from Arizona I
was gifted with grandparents that lived in Hawaii. I was able to visit each
summer and learned the beautiful sport. When I was back home I couldn’t just
drive to the beach and go surf for the day because my closest beach was a 6 hour drive to California. Kids all over the U.S are deprived of not being able to ride their
first wave because they don’t live near an ocean. I believe you should be
opening these perfect barrel wave pools all across America, mostly in places that
don't have the easy access to beaches. Opening up the possibility
for millions of people to try surfing and make it a larger sport for those
without the luxury of coastal access. This could be game changing for the world surf
league. Think of how many kids would love to surf in their hometowns but
need to drive multiple hours or even fly to get that sensation of being in the
water and riding a wave. You could be revolutionizing the surf industry and
wave pools all over America. Hope you consider my idea of expanding surfing to
the states that never get to experience it. See you out in the water!
