Words by Jason Wilson
It has been a huge summer for one of our newest additions to the Zap Team, Casey Ritzer! Casey started out his skim season with two back to back wins in the Menehune division of Skim USA events 3 and 4 in Delaware and New Jersey. After coming back from New Jersey, Casey attended the Alley-Oop Advanced week of skim camp where he was a stand out and team captain. He logged many great skim clips and kept the level of skimming high all week. Be on the look out for more footage of Casey at skim camp as the video gets released through Alley-Oop next week.
After skim camp, Casey headed directly to Camp Woodward for an intense week of skate camp where Casey picked up many new tricks and confidence on board by working with some of the top skaters in the sport! Casey was chosen to come back for a special week of Woodward skate camp where the best campers of the summer come back to skate with other high level campers and the best instructors. Unfortunately during Casey’s week at skate camp he suffered an injury to his wrist that sent him home not feeling 100% with only one week until the Victoria World Championships in Laguna Beach, CA.
Once home from camp Casey was immediately summoned by Zap professional/team manager, Jason Wilson to come film with other team riders and skim cinematographer Matt Adams in some of the best liner conditions Delaware had seen all summer. Despite the sore wrist Casey charged the session. On Casey’s first wave of the session his arm went out from under him as he monkey crawled onto his board. Casey came up holding his wrist and cringing. Ignoring the pain as the waves fired down the line Casey decided to continue skimming. On his next wave Casey’s arm gave out on him again and he was done. After a trip to the hospital Casey was diagnosed with a broken wrist and given a water proof cast.
Not letting that slow him down Casey headed out to Laguna to continue his tear through summer at the Victoria World Championships. Casey skimmed with poise and confidence through out the whole weekend with a cast and water proof sack wrapped around his arm. Casey took first in the 9-11 division and brought home a big win for the East Coast and all his sponsors!
Now heading into the final stretch of summer who knows what the next month will bring for our super grom? You can catch Casey at the Zap Amateur World Championships of Skimboarding in Dewey Beach on August 13 & 14, 2011.
Check out a few pics of Casey while he was in CA:
Q&A with Casey
Whats your birthday?
June 19, 2000
Where are you from?
Bethany Beach, Delaware
What is your favorite place to skim?
Gordon’s Pond and Southside, Indian River Inlet
Who do you skim with mostly?
Patrick, Carter
Are you into any other board sports? Which ones?
Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Bodyboarding
Whats your favorite thing about skimboarding?
Getting really long liners!
Why did you start skimboarding?
My dad and I bought a wooden board and had a lot of fun together.
Who are some skimboarders that you look up to? Who inspires you?
Jason Wilson, Brad Domke
What do you want to be when you grow up?
A pro skimboarder and a teacher.
What is some of your favorite music?
Hip Hop and some Rock
Favorite foods?
In-N-Out Burger, Chipotle
What do you love about riding for Zap?
Cool boards, lots of good pros.
What do you think about Zap?
I like how they treat me as a member of the team.
How did it feel to win the Vic?
I was excited because it was the second time I’ve skimmed in California, but it was
hard to get used to the waves at Aliso.