SURFING : Slater Will Appear on Television Series

Pro surfer Kelly Slater has signed a contract to appear on the syndicated TV series “Baywatch,” and the show plans to tape segments of Slater surfing during the Op Pro team championships June 23-28 at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Slater, ranked fourth on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world tour, plays Kelly Slade, Malibu High senior and an aspiring pro surfer, said his agent, Bryan Taylor of Los Angeles.

Most of the filming at the Op will be on June 24, early in the competition, Taylor said.

“Most of the footage will be of Kelly surfing and walking on the beach,” Taylor said. “There won’t be much dialogue.”

Slater is scheduled to appear in eight episodes, which are being taped during a two-month break on the world-tour schedule.

Slater, a Cocoa Beach, Fla., native, lives and trains part-time in Huntington Beach.

At 19, he’s attempting to become the youngest world-tour champion in history. Santa Barbara’s Tom Curren was 21 when he won his first world title in 1985.

Flavio Padaratz and Victor Ribas, the two top surfers on Brazil’s team, have withdrawn from the Op Pro.

Padaratz, a former Edison High exchange student, withdrew for personal reasons. Ribas broke his leg while surfing at Huntington State Beach last week. They were replaced by Pedro Mueller and Ricardo Tatui.