Casey Kiernan-McCullough is one of those riders whose riding just speaks for itself. Style, power, precision…when Casey is on the water, people take notice. 2023 was solid for Casey. With lots of travel and contests, Casey’s riding was on display all season long. We caught up with her to hear about some of her favorite moments and where she sees skimboarding going. Check it out below!
ZAP: Where are you right now?
Casey: Just got back home in Florida. Right after my trip to Japan I went to Tennessee for a stand up paddle boarding race- 32 miles!
ZAP: How was Japan? Tell me why you went.
Casey: Japan was so epic! From day one the hospitality and kindness was abundant. Through competing in skim I’ve met several skimboarders that live in Japan, so it was really nice that they reached out to me to make sure I had the best time. From getting transportation, to skimming the popular beaches, to eating the best food, receiving beautiful and thoughtful gifts, and building friendships with love and laughter, it was so memorable! Kaori, another Women’s Pro skimmer who lives in Japan, set up a skim clinic and skim jam on October 14th. She translated for me as I gave lessons to many of Japan’s up-and-coming skimmers, then we got to have a fun little contest. It was cool to see their community, style of skimming, and to be welcomed so openly!
ZAP: Congratulations on winning Oktoberfest! How did that feel?
Casey: Thanks! Winning Oktoberfest is always so rewarding. For the longest time I couldn’t clinch a win there, so to get my third in a row was so cool! Since it’s the last stop of the season, to win that contest is like the icing on the cake, especially since those waves are very different from what I practice on all year.
ZAP: Are you pleased with 2023?
Casey: Absolutely! I did my best at each contest, but most importantly had fun, continued to build friendships in the skim community, met a lot of new skimboarders, launched my 2023 Pro Model, gave skim lessons, hosted my most successful Skim For CF charity skim contest, and learned valuable lessons! Of course I would have liked to claim the UST title for 2023, but it was amazing to watch all the other women work hard and commit to competing and progressing, especially Chabe who totally deserved it for all her dedication!
ZAP: How’s married life?
Casey: Loving it! I’m really lucky that my hubby Chris loves skimming just as much as me, if not more so it’s always a fun time. 10/10 recommend marriage, it’s awesome!
ZAP: Plans or goals for ‘24?
Casey: Currently contemplating! I’m going to do my ultimate best to improve my skills skimboarding and in competition so that I can claim UST title #4 in 2024! I also have made a big jump in my stand up paddleboarding progress so I want to continue training and improving there to podium at ICF World’s end of next year. I'm also paddling in The Crossing For CF for my 4th time, planning for prone paddling again, but might have to switch it back to SUP so I can keep aligned with my main SUP goal at World’s. I also want to start up my monthly skim meets again in Jupiter, FL and host another awesome Skim For CF event in May or June!
ZAP: What’s SUP (tell me about your paddle life right now- happenings- results this year)?
Casey: Haha, I see what you did there! So I just wrapped up my last big event of the year with a 2nd place finish out of 52 women and 13th out of 140 including men and women! That was a beautiful 32 mile race down the Chattanooga River in Tennessee.
My race last month in South Carolina landed me a 3rd place in both distance race and ocean sprints. Before that I had the big goal in June of paddling prone (laying down surf style) all 80 miles from the Bahamas to Florida in The Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis. I made it 68 miles and couldn’t do the whole thing because we were forced to get in our support boat to relocate due to a lightning storm, so maybe try again in 2024!
Paddling is incredible cross training and is so similar to the positive and friendly vibe that we find in the skim community. It’s such a challenge so I'm looking forward to seeing where I take it!
ZAP: How are you training these days?
Casey: It’s actually been such a tough challenge the past few months with all the traveling between skim and SUP events so I really wasn’t able to train at the gym like I planned for strength or running distance for endurance. Even my SUP training was limited so basically I have been just trying to maintain my level of fitness with light exercise, skim, and SUP. Now I'm transitioning into the off-season so I'll be working on lifting heavier for lower body and upper body strength, focus on long runs with nice winter weather, and then having fun skimming and paddling while trying to progress still.
This year I had a very lax diet, so as I'm reprogramming my goals for 2024, i’ll clean up the diet and opt for more plant based, high protein options.
Motivation- definitely a new wave of that as I dial in my goals for next year!
ZAP: What is your view on the current state of skimboarding?
Casey: I feel that skimming is just as popular as ever, if not more thanks especially to social media. The skim contests are seemingly at an all time high for good vibes, fun, and prize incentive and especially for the east coast contests we’ve seen the level of entries soar. As for the skill, that’s at an all time high too. Seeing the young women, the boys, and even the pros, the things they’re doing today in contests is continually jaw dropping! It’s pretty interesting too to see how it’s in a transitional phase with a lot more young pros at the top and the ones who used to compete a lot are more so focused on personal life with marriage and family. It’s cool to see how those skimboarders paved the way for everyone newer to the pro scene. Overall, it’s in a good place with a lot of support from the community and contest organizers.
ZAP: Any new interests?
Casey: I already have too many, so nothing new at the moment lol.
ZAP: Any final thoughts?
Casey: Between my Japan trip, all the friendships I have, and the positive active lifestyle I get to live, I attribute it coming from the opportunities that stemmed from skimboarding, so I'm just always grateful for everyone I've met along the way and I look forward to next year!
OBX Skim Jam: 1st Place
Zap World Championships: 2nd Place
Oktoberfest: 1st Place
