Watch: Kelly Slater’s First Wave at the New Pool in Abu Dhabi
Dylan Graves wasn't supposed to be at the opening day of the new wave pool in Abu Dhabi.
But, during a layover in Dubai (on his way back to Australia from Europe), he decided to send Slater a text to see if maybe, just maybe, the pool was open for business and/or find out if Slater was around.
"I was thinking there was no chance this was gonna work out," Graves recalls in the edit above. "Turns out, Kelly had just landed, and invites me to come join on what turns out to be the opening day of the pool."
While it may sound too good to be true, it's not. Graves breaks down the story in more detail above, and even shows us the text exchange between himself and Slater.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
After pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, Graves jumps in a taxi and arrives just in time to watch Slater ride his very first wave: two turns and a 10-second tube, under Abu Dhabi's spectacular skyline.
From there, Graves watches Steph Gilmore and Jeremy Flores smash their waves, before catching a couple himself.
Click play for the full breakdown, including Graves' thoughts on how the pool differs from the one in Lemoore.
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