Riptide Magazine

Dallas Singer's Fourth Postcard from South America

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 June 2010 17:27

The World Tour is a big part of professional bodyboarding. There are so many levels of excitement and senses of achievement that bodyboarding can offer, but if you were to ask any seasoned pro-rider what they see as their career highlight and nine-times-out-of-ten they’ll give you description of how good a certain contest result felt and how that feeling pushed them towards other contest aspirations.

The IBA World Tour is no walk in the park. It takes every bit of your ambition to make it up onto that podium. Which is why these moments of success are held in such high esteem. This tour is pushing the highest skilled riders to get a whole lot better. Recently on the South American leg of the Tour the best have been in each other’s pockets; watching and competing against one another in waves that allow them to raise the riding bar.

Yesterday Pierre did a backflip. It was a move that had every pro rider on the beach kicking there feet in the sand, wondering if they’d be able to pull off the same thing in that situation. The first wave in the final, after having already surfed two outstanding heats that same day (one of which had Hubb scratching to qualify even after posting a perfect score), Pierre executed a seemingly impossible backflip off a six-foot closeout, winning him the contest. It’s moments like this one of Pierre’s that fuel the competitive machine of the world’s best and in effect pushes this sport to new levels. - Dallas.

Images courtesy of dallassinger.com