Surfing's 11-time world champion Kelly Slater won his first heat of the 2024 tour on Tuesday as the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach got underway in Australia, but the 52-year-old acknowledged his remarkable career was nearing an end. Slater went into the Bells event ranked a lowly 33rd in the world having struggled in the first two contests in Hawaii and missing the most recent competition in Portugal while battling to recover from hip surgery.