Pond Skim back with a splash!

Pond Skim splashes back onto Buller’s Bourke Street

There was jubilation in the international skimming community as all eyes turned to Mt Buller this week for the triumphant return of the National Pond Skimming Championships.

The crisp and foggy conditions favoured local skimmers and saw some teams from the sub-tropics including the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Hawaii teams spooked by the chilly forecast with a few late scratchings.

Federation Internationale de Pond Skim (FIPS) Race Director and event chief David Clark was thrilled to have the flagship event back this spring,

“Mt Buller is a favourite stop on the international circuit and it’s the pond that athletes like to skim. Buller is known for being a fast pond and for the rigorous judging by our Australian scoring panel.”“I’ve been part of this sport for nearly 53 years and there’s no question, the crowd here on Mt Buller gives off big energy pond-side that brings out world class skims from the athletes. You see a level of skimming, bigness and creativity on the Bourke Street Pond that other events simply do not match.”

“There are individuals and teams here I’m sure we’ll see at the upcoming Winter Olympics when I expect Pond Skim will finally be recognised in a demonstration event in Italy” he added.

An excited crowd gathered around the pond and the skimming got off to a spectacular start with the junior event led by cheerleader Alana Hunt who took the first splash and ultimately went on to take second place. Top of the podium went to Miles Vivash whose combination of bigness, choreography and style as King Fu Panda scored him just .5 ahead to take the honours. Skimmers outfits reflected an inclusive mix of unicorns, sleepwear, teddy bears and Mexicans.

In the team division for junior skimmers with a first place score of 29 was an homage to the engagement of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce that brought the perfect combination of newsworthy and topical theme combined with music, choreography, full-send bigness and aerial commitment along with a show stopping splash.

After a warm up break for kranskys in the Pirate Life beer garden the adult event blasted across the pond with a mix of 23 entries including a mix of pop culture references, some mild nudity and mis-use of balloons. Local skimmers performed strongly to the delight of the crowd with an Alpine Resort’s team “Soggy Bottom Boys” taking the top gong for adult team, just half a point ahead of the Kofler’s Boys who dazzled the crowd and judges by skimming while applying sauce to a hotdog (a complex stunt only elite level skimmers would attempt). First place for adult individual skim was another local skimmer, Eliza Phillips, whose flying dragon stunned onlookers and blazed across the water. Second place was close behind as Alex Borland honoured the late Ozzy Osbourne complete with guitar and some world-class skimming that took him almost to the end of the pond.

The Mt Buller event organisers would like to thank the esteemed judging panel including Australia’s most experienced Pond Skim judge and Olympian Jacqui Cooper, local ambassador and biathlete Boris Stanish and costume judge Dan Rodgers who had the challenging task of scoring and separating such a skilled and stylish line up of skimmers.

Thanks also go to Mt Buller’s elite event team who crafted a perfect competition pond on Bourke Street in line with international specifications which demand strict dimensions, water temperature (0.5 degrees) and a precise northwest/southeast alignment to work with lunar tidal forces.

The National Pond Skim Championships would not be possible without the unwavering support of Pirate Life, Pit Viper, Rossignol and ABOM.

Special mention to Nigel who was the lifeguard on duty and risked his own toes for the safety of others.

As we say at Mt Buller SKIM ONE, SKIM ALL, SKIM WELL. LONG LIVE THE SKIM.