This past year was a rather interesting one in the world of surfing. Kelly Slater further cemented his status as the greatest surfer ever by winning his 11th World Title, yet in the process the ASP bungled the calculations, thus resulting in two separate World Title celebrations. You had Hollywood continuing to get involved and try to put surfing on the big screen. Dane Reynolds continued to entertain the surfing masses, only it was on his personal website and not so much at competitions. Big wave surfing continued to push boundaries. Competitive surfing added an urban flavor. There was certainly a lot going on. Here are the top 20 stories of the 2011 year.

20. President Barack Obama Takes Surfboards with him to Hawaii

It's fairly common knowledge that the 44th President of the United States is not only the first President to drop a shaka, but also is a pretty legitimate body surfer, having been photographed body surfing one of the heaviest shorepounds on the planet, Sandy Beach in Hawaii. It wasn't until Obama's assistants were photographed carrying surfboards off Air Force One after Obama's annual holiday visit to his home state of Hawaii at the start of the year when suspicion was aroused that Obama also enjoys riding surfboards.

19. Artificial Wave Machines Take the Next Step

It's been the stuff of lore, stories that seem as real as unicorns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. Artificial wave machines that feel and ride like real waves. This year, artificial wave machines took a huge step towards becoming a reality. A company called Wavegarden created the most realistic artificial wave in the world, with plans now for a larger model to be constructed in England. And Kelly Slater Wave Company received patents allowing them to proceed with plans for their own artificial wave machine. An alternative to surfing crowded beaches appears much closer to reality.

18. Santa Cruz Surfer Lands First Documented Kickflip

Volcom had a contest running called the Volcom Stone's $10,000 Kickflip-Off, with cash going to the first surfer who landed a documented kick-flip. Santa Cruz surfer Zoltan Torkos was surfing at world-famous Steamer’s Lane in Santa Cruz, where he pulled the trick that awarded him $10,000. Volcom disputed the award at first, claiming Torkos violated the rules by using a chop hop. After massive negative backlash towards Volcom for not awarding Torkos the award, Volcom changed their mind and rightfully gave Torkos his $10,000 prize.

17. Garrett McNamara Surfs Self-Proclaimed Largest Big Wave Ever

Garrett McNamara, whose passion for garnering attention rivals his pursuit of surfing monster waves, surfed this behemoth wave that McNamara claimed was 90 feet. While it looks to be closer to 60 feet in size, this ginormous wave, which McNamara surfed near Nazare, Portugal, could still be arguably the largest wave ever ridden and deserve props for the Hawaiian big wave charger.

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16. Gerard Butler Attempts to Make a Movie about Maverick's

Actor Gerard Butler is playing the role of Frosty Hesson, Jay Moriarity's mentor in the soon-to-be-released film Of Men and Mavericks. During filming Butler was caught inside at Maverick's while attempting to perform his own stunts. Big wave legend Greg Long credited Butler with being a good pupil and heeding the big wave surfer's advice of what to do when caught inside at Maverick's. Butler was sent to the hospital but appears to be OK. Of Men and Mavericks is scheduled to be released next year.

15. Carissa Moore Wins ASP Women's World Title

Without question the greatest women's surfer right now is Carissa Moore, who won her first ASP Women's World Title at the young age of 18. Moore would also compete in two men's events at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Although she failed to get past her first heat in both events, Moore still made a strong name for herself and is bound to continue to dominate surfing for years to come.

14. John John Florence Wins Triple Crown of Surfing

Pipeline master John John Florence qualified for the ASP World Tour and was involved in arguably the most entertaining heat of the year, when he was narrowly defeated in the quarterfinals of the Billabong Pipe Masters by Kelly Slater. Florence would go on to win this year's Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.  The future looks very bright for Florence, who is part of a crop of young guns who are going to dominate surfing for at least the next decade.

13. ASP's Young Guns Announce Their Arrival

John John Florence wasn't the only surfer in his generation to show the world that he's ready to become the greatest surfer. Australian Owen Wright reached three straight Finals against Kelly Slater this year, winning one of them for his first ASP World Tour victory.  And 17 year-old Brazilian Gabriel Medina won two ASP World Tour events in his rookie year and proved the wins weren't a fluke, reaching the quarterfinals of the Billabong Pipe Masters.  Other youngsters like Miguel Pupo and Julian Wilson also posted strong results. The future of surfing has arrived, as these young guns will be dominating the ASP World Tour for years to come.

12. Keala Kennelly Mauled by Teahupoo

During a massive session at Teahupoo, Keala Kennelly was the only woman to surf the intense heavy Tahitian wave. Kennelly wiped out and suffered a brutal injury to her face, smashing her face on the sharp and jagged coral in the shallow waters. Kennelly had to have surgery to remove embedded coral and fortunately was able to fully recover.

11. Kelly Slater Skips J-Bay for Amazing Swell at Tavarua

Kelly Slater received a lot of grief from his peers and fans of the ASP when he decided to skip the Billabong Pro J-Bay to head to Fiji and surf some of the greatest sessions ever at Tavarua. Cloudbreak was firing, and Slater was there to catch ride after ride while the majority of the ASP World Tour was surfing small conditions in South Africa. Needless to say it was worth it, seeing as how Slater would go on to win his 11th World Title.

10. The ASP Experiments with Urban Locations

For the first time in ASP history, three contests were held in urban locations, with the primary reason being more exposure for marketing and business purposes. The Brazil contest was moved to the beachbreaks off Rio de Janeiro, Quiksilver announced they were hosting a new annual contest in New York City, and the Rip Curl Pro Search found its home in the cold, windy, heavy Ocean Beach waves off the coast of San Francisco. The experiment clearly was a failure, as Quiksilver announced they would not be returning to New York next year, and Rip Curl has decided to take a year off and not hold a Search event in 2012 after the debacle in San Francisco that resulted in Kelly Slater celebrating his 11th World Title not once, but twice.

9. Sean Collins RIP

This news shocked just about everyone in the surfing community. Collins, Surfline.com's founder, President and chief forecaster revolutionized surfing by becoming a pioneer in surf forecasting, and Surfline.com today remains the most visited surf website on the internet.

8. Women Surfers Take it to a New Level of Hotness

Women's surfing has taken it to an entirely new level, and not just in terms of surfing performance. The ladies are blowing up the richter scale of hotness, with pieces of deliciousness including Monyca byrne-Wickey, Alana Blanchard, Laura Enever, Carissa Moore, Coco Ho, Lakey Peterson and Malia Manuel leading the way. Most of these aforementioned ladies starred in a new surf film called Leave A Message that actually turned out really well.  The entire movie is available below.

7. Andy Irons Autopsy Report

It was just over a year ago when Andy Irons tragically passed away in a Dallas hotel room. After his family continually requested to have the autopsy reports delayed, the results were finally released. Irons reportedly passed away due to a drug overdose. The Irons family, who wanted the report delayed so the Irons brand wasn't damaged, hired their own examiner who naturally disputed the coroner's report that drugs were the cause of his passing. Regardless the surfing community continues to mourn one of the greatest surfers ever.

6. Billabong Pro Teahupoo Produces Bomb Sets

It was the swell everyone always hopes for when the Billabong Pro Teahupoo rolls around. In fact, they actually called one of the days because it was too big, a decision unprecedented on the ASP World Tour. Kelly Slater would go on to win the contest, the first of three Finals where Slater would match up against Owen Wright.

5. Maverick's Claims Its Second Victim

It was one of the most tragic days of the year in surfing. 35 year-old Sion Milosky, a big wave charger from Hawaii, was the victim of a two wave hold down at Maverick's and passed away. Milosky, who is the second surfer to ever pass away surfing Maverick’s and the first since Mark Foo tragically passed away in 1994, is survived by his wife and two young daughters.

4. Bobby Martinez Blasts the ASP, Leaves Tour with a Victory

Bobby Martinez, a former ASP Rookie of the Year who has won four ASP World Tour contests, struggled at the start of the year and slowly began what led to his infamous meltdown after his second round heat at the Quiksilver Pro New York. Martinez, who was frustrated with the locations of contests in addition to the midyear rotation, was interviewed during a live webcast after winning his heat and began a lengthy and vulgar rant criticizing the ASP and comparing it to the tennis tour, which you can view for yourself below. Martinez was banned from the ASP for the rest of the year after his rant. Unfortunately for Martinez, one of his gripes with the ASP, the midyear rotation, was just recently abolished in a vote held by ASP World Tour surfers. So maybe Martinez can start a comeback to return to the ASP World Tour. Or not.

3. Brodie Carr Resigns after ASP Debacle

The ASP nearly lost all of its credibility after awarding Kelly Slater his 11th ASP World Title at the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco, then rescinding the trophy when Slater himself found out, after reading a comment on Surfline.com, that the ASP didn't do the math correctly. Slater would go on to win the additional heat necessary for him to win the World Title, but the damage was already done. ASP CEO Brodie Carr went straight to San Francisco after the ASP’s World Title blunder, and after a meeting of the ASP Board of Directors was held in San Francisco, Carr announced his resignation as CEO of the ASP. Some integrity was restored to the ASP, but surfing's competitive governing body still has a lot of work to do to reestablish its credibility.

2. Dane Reynolds Becomes a Rich Man's Dave Rastovich

Some, like longtime surf writer Chris Mauro, would argue that not pursuing a career on the ASP World Tour is a waste of talent. Regardless, this is the decision that Dane Reynolds has made. The difference being that Reynolds has that option. After suffering a knee injury at the beginning of the year and missing some contests as a result, it slowly became apparent that Reynolds simply didn't have the competitive drive to be a regular on the ASP World Tour. Surfing's prodigal heir to the Kelly Slater throne alas Dane Reynolds is not to be. Reynolds, along with his massive airs, insane bottom turns and hipster flair, will be going the Dave Rastovich route and is to become a free surfer on a full-time basis. And more power to Reynolds for having the luxury of being paid solely to surf when and where he wants to be.

1. Ke11y

The greatest surfer ever continued his assault on the ASP World Tour with his 11th World Title. Kelly Slater joined a very select group of competitors in winning for the 11th time, joining only basketball legends Bill Russell and Phil Jackson, who won 11 World Titles as a player and Head Coach respectively. This past year could very easily have been Slater's last competing on a regular basis. After his semifinal defeat at the Billabong Pipe Masters, Slater gave the strongest hints yet that he was likely through chasing World Titles. With a very talented crop of young guns giving chase, and the ASP continuing to be running adrift between rule changes, location difficulties and miscalculations, Slater may be thinking now is the best time to end his annual pursuit of a World Title. Regardless we'll very likely continue to see the greatest surfer ever riding waves for many years to come.