Samar native wins Delaware skimboarding tournament

Roderick “Manoy” C. Bazar winning at masters’ championship in Dewey Beach, Delaware. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LAS VEGAS, Nevada–A self-taught surfer from a seaside town in Eastern Samar has captured the masters’ championship of a world-class skimboarding tournament in Delaware that drew entries from around the world.

Roderick “Manoy” C. Bazar of Sabang South, Borongan, Eastern Samar, also captured the overall runner-up position of the event held in Dewey Beach in Delaware, August 9-10.

“This is beyond awesome, a dream come true,” said the 28-year old Bazar, who was sponsored by Exile Skimboards.

Skimboarding is a relatively new sport, a take off from surfing. It  is a board sport in which a smaller and skinnier surfboard, usually between 61 and 64 inches, is used to glide across the water’s surface. It grew in popularity from the beaches of California.

Skimboarders drop the board onto the thin wash of previous waves and use their momentum to skim out to the breaking ones, which they then catch back into shore like surfing.

To score points, skimboarders do tricks like skateboarders. Bazar has been competing for the past eight years or so.

If he could again secure sponsors, Bazar wants to compete in the World Skim Tour in Newport Beach, California, where he reached the semifinals last year.

In last year’s competition “Manoy,” Bazar’s nickname, which means elder brother in the Waray-Waray dialect drew support from folks from Borongan living in Southern California.

He is expected to get that support again, said Ian Olmedo, his manager.

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