Kelly Slater increased his record total of world championships to nine today by clinching the 2008 title.

Slater became the world champion when he won his third round heat over Spain's Eneko Acero in the Billabong Pro Mundaka men's contest today at Mundaka, Spain.

Slater, who is 36 and from Cocoa Beach, Fla., is the oldest surfer ever to win the world championship. In 1992, when he was 20, he was the youngest surfer to win the world title.

"It's going to take a little while to sink in," Slater said when mobbed at the water¹s edge. "I'm probably going to have to call home and talk to family for it to really hit me."

Slater was eliminated in the fourth round of the contest, but that didn't matter. He has already won five of the previous eight contests on the 2008 World Championship Tour.

"I felt a lot more at ease this year," Slater said. "It's probably my personal life. That's the biggest change in my life. I'm happy and settled and I've got the support there that just feels amazing. Nothing else has really changed, I've worked with my boards a little bit here and there and I've always worked on my mind and my emotions, but something just really clicked into place this year."

Fred Patacchia Jr. from O'ahu's North Shore was also eliminated in the fourth round.