Riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device
"Bodysurfer" redirects here. For the Australian mini series, see Bodysurfer (miniseries).
Thomas VanMelum navigates a glassy right
Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers often equip themselves with a pair of swimfins that aid propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride, and kick out of waves. Some bodysurfers also use a wooden or foam handplane, which helps to get one's chest out of the water to reduce drag, this is known as handplaning and is an offshoot of bodysurfing.
Some of the best waves for bodysurfing are steep, fast, tubing beachbreak waves that are often unsuitable for boardsurfing; two of the best known are Sandy Beach and Makapuu on the east shore of Oahu in Hawaii. The Wedge, in Newport Beach, California, a ferocious sand-pounding peak wave aptly described by Sports Illustrated in 1971 as "a great big screaming shorebreak," has for decades been bodysurfing's most fearsome and famous break. Other regions with world-class bodysurfing waves include Hossegor (France), Puerto Escondido (Mexico), and Nazaré (Portugal).
Distinguished bodysurfers include Buffalo Keaulana and Sean Enoka of Hawaii; Californians Bud Browne, Candy Calhoun, Larry Lunbeck, and Mickey Muñoz; Wedge riders Fred Simpson, Terry Wade, Kevin 'Mel' Thoman and Thomas VanMelum; and Australians Don McCredie, Tony Hubbard, Max Watt, and Michael Fay. Hawaiian lifeguard Mark Cunningham, a sublimely smooth master at the board-dominated Pipeline, was unanimously regarded as the world's premier bodysurfer from the mid-1970s to the early '90s; nine-time bodyboarding world champion Mike Stewart then become the sport's dominant presence, and was the first to do a barrel roll at Pipeline.[1]
^"bodysurfing". Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
this is known as handplaning and is an offshoot of bodysurfing. Some of the best waves for bodysurfing are steep, fast, tubing beachbreak waves that are...
The Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic (PBC) is a bodysurfing competition held annually during the winter season at the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of...
individual holds a lightweight wing on a surf board with a hydrofoil. Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant...
beaches and naturist resorts, where people practice skinny dipping, naked bodysurfing or any other form of nude recreation. Nudity portal There are no beaches...
football scholarship to the University of Southern California due to a bodysurfing accident, he began working for the Fox Film Corporation. He appeared...
the water in water sports activities such as swimming, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, float-tube fishing, kneeboarding, riverboarding, scuba diving, snorkeling...
coach Daniel Anderson who became an incomplete quadriplegic after a bodysurfing accident in 2022. It currently serves as the home ground for the New...
of the wave (the same applies whether the surfer is standup paddling, bodysurfing, boogie-boarding or using some other type of watercraft, such as a waveski...
wave of bodysurfing". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2022-03-21. Haro, Alexander (3 May 2019). "Grant Twiggy Baker Just Joined a Bodysurfing Team". The...
Volcom Pipe Pro, the IBA Pipeline Pro (bodyboarding), and the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic. Surfers can also submit videos to Surfline's Wave of the Winter...
board is initially skimmed by a human) and to windsurf with a human, and bodysurfing dogs have also been documented in surfing media. Dog surfing has been...
continued to blow glass until he dislocated his right shoulder in 1979 while bodysurfing. In 1983, Chihuly returned to his native Pacific Northwest where he continued...
likely existed since humans began swimming in the ocean. In this sense, bodysurfing is the oldest type of wave-catching. Undoubtedly ancient sailors learned...
time first place winner in the men's age 65 and over group at the World Bodysurfing Championships held annually in Oceanside, California. Beathard was inducted...
waves through the diving area and into a shallow area - where kids were bodysurfing little waves: "This is the new kind of swimming bath that is becoming...
official story had it that she'd been struck by Hurricane Norman while bodysurfing in Malibu, but rumors flew that she actually suffered the injury during...
Beach Safety". Retrieved 15 June 2013. "Brennecke's Beach in Poipu - Bodysurfing beaches Kauai". Clark, John R. K. (1985). Beaches of The Big Island....
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