The 37th annual Zap Pro/Am World Championships took place this weekend in Dewey Beach, Delaware. Being the largest event of the year, the contest spanned 3 days with lots of action packed in. There were around 150 competitors that flocked to show their skills on the biggest stage at the East Coast Skimboarding capital.
Day one kicked off with the opening ceremony and riders meeting. We presented Project Kudos with a skimboard in appreciation for their support of the event. They got behind the event big time this year and stand for a great cause. Check out their website below to see what the they are all about.
http://schellbrothers.com/project-kudos/
After the riders meeting we jumped straight into action. The Pro's kicked off the event in exciting fashion with their Preliminary heats. Rarely do you see the Pro's at the start but it was a welcomed change. Although there wasn't much to work with wave wise, it was still fun to watch with lots of technical riding. Standouts from the Zap team were Mason Broussard, Zack Carter, Sam McCoy, and Matt Buchanan. After the Pro's finished we went to lunch break where the band Hotbed rocked out for us. The Am's finished out the day with their Prelim's.
Day two started bright and early with very similar conditions as the first day. As you can expect the Am's kicked off the day with lots of technical riding. We moved to man on man Pro heats after lunch break which provided for a lot of great entertainment. There was a bit of weather that rolled through which delayed the event for about 2 hours but it didn't have much effect on the riders. Man on man heats have been a welcome change. The intensity cranks up to another level when the riders know their is only one way out. Sam McCoy and Gerardo Valencia survived round 2 and moved to the Quarters. Mason Broussard came up just short with an amazing performance against eventual Champion Blair Conklin. The Quarters began with Gerardo falling to Blair and Sam McCoy beating out Perry Pruitt for a spot in the Semi's. We concluded the day with the Quarters.
Saturday night Skim USA hosted the "Art of Skim" at the Big Chill at Southside Inlet. The fundraiser is always a fun time as riders and artist paint miniature skimboards that are auctioned off. There was a lot of great pieces that were highly sought after!
Day three was Finals day and we started with just that. All the Amateur divisions ran through their finals in the morning with the Pro's and Semi Pro's rounding out the day after lunch break. In the Pro's Semi Final Sam McCoy beat out Austin Keen and Blair Conklin beat out John Weber to meet in the final. Sam McCoy came up just short against Blair Conklin in the final who skimmed flawlessly all weekend in route to taking the top spot. In the Women Pro, Casey Kiernan squared off against Sophia Nguyen in what was an exciting final. Sophia ended up taking the top spot with Casey finishing in second place.
We rounded out the event by raffling off three brand new skimboards. Two of which we donated and one that Project Kudo's bought for a raffle prize. After the raffle, awards began and World Champions were crowned. See below for Podium's of each division.
Mini Division:
Girls Division:
Menehune Division:
Boys Division:
Jr. Women Division:
Jr. Mens Division
Womens Division:
Congrats Zap Team Rider Sydney Pizza on 2nd Place!
Mens Division:
Sr. Mens Division
Masters Division:
Grandmasters Division:
Congrats Zap team rider Chip Sanders on 3rd Place!
Sr. Grandmasters:
Semi Pro Division:
Women's Professional Division:
Congrats to Zap team rider Casey Kiernan on 2nd Place!
Mens Professional Division:
Congrats to Zap team rider Sam McCoy on 2nd Place!
Overall Points Champions for Skim USA tour:
We would like to thank Skim USA for hosting another great event and to all the volunteers that make it all possible to do what we love. There is a lot of work put into these events that we all enjoy so much and we are glad to help support them! The next stop for the Zap crew is the Florida Pro/Am in 2 weeks and we hope to see everyone there.
