A new source of adventure has caught the attention of beachgoers all around the world. The once-niche sport, born from the beaches of California, has gained enthusiasm and traction from a wide variety of people looking to participate in a fun, beginner-friendly activity.
All around the world, people are grabbing their boards and heading for the ocean, hoping to accomplish something great.
The appeal of skimboarding, sometimes called skimming, is credited to the sport’s accessibility and approachability for anyone searching for ways to stay active and be part of a tight-knit, supportive community. It involves running into the waves, throwing a small board in shallow water and riding a wave back to shore. Advanced athletes take the sport to a whole new level by incorporating tricks.
Skimboarding has its roots in 1920’s California. The first skimboard prototype emerged when two lifeguards needed a way to quickly get from place to place.
The sport saw extreme an extreme climb in popularity from the 1970’s to the 1990’s, and is now experiencing a resurgence. The very first competition was held less than fifty years ago in 1976. Since then, rules have been constantly evolving to keep up with the ever changing sport.
“Skimboarding is still developing, they don’t have all the exact rules down yet,” junior Tristan Barnes said.
SkimUSA and the United Skim Tour are currently the most popular organizations for skimboarding athletes to join. The United Skim Tour is the only professional international skimboarding tour in the world, focusing on global competitions.
SkimUSA is local, based on the East Coast. It is a youth-based program targeted at promoting the sport in addition to coordinating competitions and events.
“[Skimming] doesn’t take too long to learn, but it gets way more sophisticated as you start to progress into the harder things. If you really want to get better, boards cost around six hundred dollars, but to start out it’s not bad,” sophomore Liam Barnes said.
Skimming is a sport that requires a lot of balance. Athletes ensure that they are able to maintain a good balance by selecting the proper board.
Beginners are generally able to obtain an affordable board that will suit their needs, although as athletes become more advanced in their craft, the prices of boards tend to increase.
“It’s really welcoming. They welcome people all the time because they want to grow the community. That’s the whole goal,” Tristan said.
Social media plays a large part in the sport’s climbing popularity. Social media creates a worldwide platform for athletes to post videos or pictures of themselves skimming. This attracts attention and interest to both their unique sport and their own personal skills.
Skimboarding is known and loved for its approachability for beginners, people of all ages enjoy participating. SkimUSA caters to every age group by arranging competition with every skill level and age group in mind.
While many people begin at a young age, like Liam and his brother Tristan, who began at the ages of six and four, many adults get into the sport later in life.
“I think that the competitions are super fun, and it’s really a great place to be,” freshman Willow Huellemeier said.
Competitions are a great way for people just starting out, or people with interest in the sport to get involved. Athletes are divided into groups and compete in front of a panel of judges.
Judges often score each athlete’s performance in points or on a scale system. SkimUSA offers plenty of community competitions which are reserved solely for amateur athletes.
“They’ll help you, they’ll come watch you, and they’ll come support you. You fall down quite a bit, but you have to just get back up and keep going,” Huellemeier said.
