There are few athletes in the world of extreme sports that are more recognisable than Kelly Slater.

The American surfer is the greatest to ever hang ten, dominating his sport during his extremely successful career. Slater has reached the pinnacle as the World Surf League champion a record 11 times, including five straight titles from 1994-98.

He became both the youngest, at age 20, and the oldest, at age 39, to win the coveted title. Slater also passed his childhood hero, Tom Curren, for the most career event wins in 2007 with 34.

One of his greatest feats came in 2005, when Slater became the first surfer to ever earn two perfect 20-point scores under the Association of Surfing Professionals two-wave scoring system. He matched the accomplishment in 2013 and continues to dominate the waves.

Other sporting birthdays on February 11:

1961: Mary Docter, American former speed skater who competed in four Olympics (56).

1964: Ken Shamrock, American UFC Hall of Famer and retired professional wrestler (53).

1975: Jacque Vaughn, American retired NBA player and former head coach of the Orlando Magic (42).

1983: Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch footballer for Danish club Midtjylland and the Netherlands national team (34).