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“The Amateur World Championships of skimboarding took place this past weekend in Dewey Beach, DE. Skimmers from as far away as the Philippines traveled to compete in this all amateur event.
Max Bourne, Jared Green, Jack Howie, and I took off from San Diego on a red-eye flight to Philadelphia
arriving a few days before the contest. We rented a car in Philly and drove down through the state of Deleware, stopping on the way to stretch our legs by running around in the corn fields. Arriving in Dewey Beach, you can almost blink and miss the small town. It has a very cool vibe, warming and inviting to the skimboard community. A few of the local skimboarders parents own the local convenience store, Joey Vavala’s family owns the souvenir shop across the street, and Alley Oop’s shop is located right in the middle of town, with a billboard outside “Welcoming all Skimboarders to the Zap AM Champs”.
Even the mayor stopped by the competition to welcome and wish everyone the best of luck in the event.
The boys made the best of the conditions and learned real quickly that they had to tap into their box of tricks, as the swell was mostly non-existent. It was definitely going to be a competition of tricks and technical maneuvers. The first day of competition went well with all boys advancing through at least one or both of their divisions, Mens (18-21), and Semi-Pro.
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We also ran into our fellow teammate and super shredder, 10 year old Aidan Stevenson. His parents took us out to dinner on Saturday night, and during the entire trip, always made sure that we had everything we needed during our stay. Big thanks to Mike and Melissa Stevenson for the hospitality and love! During the second day of competition, the conditions did not get any better. Ankle high waves resulted in most riders doing tricks multiple tricks along the sand, as there were 1 or 2 rare wraps or lines that only came through every 15 minutes. Due to the flat conditions and the local talent who skimmed these waves day in and day out, the boys were unfortunately eliminated by the semi-finals round. We all had a great time, skimming, eating cheese steaks, hanging with all the international skimmers, and just being on skim vacation.
The vibe is great and we’re all stoked on all the new friends and new experiences.
Leaving Dewey was bittersweet, but also nice to know we we’re coming back home. I asked Aidan, who finished 2nd in his division, his thoughts and how he felt about the weekend, and he summed it up quickly with “It was fun”. Thanks Victoria Skimboards for the support and opportunity to share the stoke on the East Coast at the Amateur World Championships of skimboarding.”
Team Results
Mark Mills takes 1st
Aidan Stevenson takes 2nd
Words by Johnny Atoe Pictures by Mark Mills[/threecol_one_last]
