Young SoLag Skimmers Looking to Break Out On the sidelines for the moment, skimmers
Photos by Robert Campbell For South Laguna residents Blair Conklin and Derek Marolf, skimboarding is a way of life. Never mind that, at 14 and 15 years of age respectively, their lives have barely just begun.
Last Sunday, Blair captured the title in the 12-14 amateur division at the 33rd annual World Championship of Skimboarding hosted by Victoria Skimboards. It was his second straight WCS win and third overall out of the four he has entered. He won the 9-11 division three years ago.
Derek battled 26 other riders, surviving four rounds of competition over two days to take fourth place in the 15-17 division. Two years ago, he finished second in the 12-14 division.
In the skimming community, these boys are officially known as groms—young skimboarders or surfers from 7 to 15 years old. But after watching them carve up the Aliso Beach shore break at the WCS, it is evident that their skills belie this agespecific label of affection.
Blair has grown up in a skimmers paradise of sorts. South Laguna is widely considered to have some of the best skimboarding waves in the country. As a child, he recalls watching the skimmers on the beaches below his ocean view home. "I always looked up to them because I thought the sport was really awesome," he said.
Blair Conklin Under the watchful eye and direction of his father, Blair decided to join his skimming heroes. He was five years old. "I have a picture where I'm in a wet suit and I'm really, really small," he said. "I just started out throwing my board on the wet sand."
Blair probably didn't realize it at the time, but, more than eighty years earlier, Laguna lifeguards were photographed at local beaches doing the same thing with pieces of plywood in what would become the forerunner to modern-day skimboarding.
Derek's journey to the SoLag skimming scene, oddly enough, began in Arizona. He came to Laguna Beach on vacation with his family when he was nine. They stayed at the Surf and Sand, where Derek spied his first skimmers. Already an avid skateboarder and snowboarder, he was immediately taken by what he saw.
Derek Marolf Contestants run for the swell at the 33rd annual skim championship last weekend. Like Blair, Derek started with a wooden skimboard. Using the skills he acquired on sidewalks and slopes, Derek started dropping that "woody" on Bluebird Beach. He found skimming to be almost as tough to learn as snowboarding. "I took a lot of diggers," he said, referring to the undesirable effect inertia has on one's body when one's board stops abruptly in the sand.
A couple years later, when his family moved to Laguna Beach, Derek set his sights on mastering the sport that had bitten him at Bluebird. But his first order of business was to ditch the "woody" and get a "foamie," a foam-core fiberglass board.
Even though Derek was now living in the birthplace of the sport he had grown to love, he was finding it difficult to get the ride time he craved from his North Laguna location. All that changed recently when his family made another move, this time to South Laguna. "All the good skim beaches are right below me, so I'm really stoked on the move we just made," he said.
On the sidelines for the moment, skimmers wait for another set. Photo by Ben Warner The formidable skills of these two young riders have already attracted a lot of attention in the skimming community. Blair signed a sponsorship agreement with Exile Skimboards at the tender age of 10. "He was one of the first guys that we got on," said Steve Taylor, operations manager at San Clementebased Exile. "He's one of, if not, the best in his age division."
Derek signed with Laguna-based Victoria Skimboards when he was 12. "He's one of those kids we've known since he was really small," said Nick Aleandro, Victoria team manager. "He's matured into quite a good rider, so it was just natural for us to pick him up."
Both Blair and Derek get free skimboards, gear and apparel as part of their sponsorship agreements. In return, they are expected to compete in as many events as possible while representing themselves and their respective sponsors well in the community.
Every year it gets a little more competitive between manufacturers to sign the best and brightest talent, especially among the younger set. But it's a friendly competition. "If I'm looking at someone and I know that another company is too, I'll call [someone at that company] up and talk to them personally," said Aleandro. "We really try not to step on each other's toes."
Teddy Vlasis Derek and Blair credit their families with supporting their skimming obsession, especially their fathers, who act as coaches and business managers. They also provide transportation to contests as far away as Cabo San Lucas and Dewey Beach, Del., where Blair finished second last year in the boys division of the East Coast Championships behind fellow Exile rider Perry Pruitt, who lives in North Carolina. Blair and Perry have faced each other three times and have become good friends. Blair holds bragging rights, having beaten Perry at the last two Victoria WCS events.
Blair and Derek occasionally skim together. Both are stylish riders with impressive bags of tricks and aspirations of turning pro some day; however, they know that, even though their sport is growing in popularity, there still are not nearly enough events or prize money to make a living at it.
Next year the two will be going head-to-head when Blair enters the 15-17 division. Until then, you can find them down at 10th Street, Tutuava or any of the other SoLag beaches waiting for the perfect wave. For Blair, it's an "A frame that is close on the shore and breaks perfectly and has a side wave connecting to it." For Derek, "The best is getting barreled on a perfect connection."
