Photos: @jeffshotthat
The 41st Annual Zap World Championship kicked off on August 11th in Dewey Beach, DE with a whopping 219 competitors! What can we say? The skim scene is definitely alive and well! The day began with a rider’s meeting as the organizers went over the rules so there was no confusion during heats. Once that was all said and done, the pro riders took to the chilly waters of Dewey Beach to start the competition. Coming out swinging, David Armstrong, aka Monster, set the tone for the day with his powerful style and solid hits. Along with team rider Austin Bleiweiss in the same heat, Zap was looking good straight out of the gate. The pro women hit the water next with Casey Kiernan McCullough and Emma Okoniewski turning up the heat with some solid slayshes and tech maneuvers. The next pro women’s heat had shredder Sydney Pizza who came out on top with ease. Next up, the current leader of the US Skim Tour for this year, Yahir Valencia, showed his power and style as he linked up moves that would make anyone jealous. Mexico and Brazil collided in the following heat with Gerardo Valencia and Bruno Sá going head to head. Both riders were feeding off each other as they traded waves back and forth. The brothers McCoy, Lucas and Sam, were in the next two heats and showed why they’re the hometown heroes. Both made it look too easy as they shredded their homebreak
The pro riders concluded around lunch time and after a break, we were back to the action with the Men’s division starting with team rider Dylan Duncan as he cruised his way closer to victory. Followed up by Drew Fusco and ET Beaugrand in the subsequent heats, the boys were looking good all around! The competition ran well into the evening with the menehunes and minis wrapping up the day. SkimGio made his presence known and skimmed well beyond his years to wrap up the day. Day 1 was a solid day but we have two more days of skim action to go so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out the photos from day 1 below!
