After Parkrun yesterday my son decided he wanted to enter the All England Stone Skimming Championships which were being held in the same park. There was quite a queue to sign up as the competition was open to all ages with no qualification. At £3 for an adult and £1 for an under 11 it was a well priced event too. Our first task was to choose from the selection of skimmers that the South Cumbria Rivers Trust had supplied:
Its all to do with the size of your hand and how they fit when you are preparing to throw them! Then we had to wait to take our turn at skimming and first of all we watched some of the seasoned experts; such as Ron Long The Old Tosser who has written an excellent post explaining how to skim stones.
Next up was Gareth Twamley who with his first stone broke the local record with an awesome 88m!!
The slightly choppy waters (and occasional straying waterfowl) weren't the ideal conditions for stone skimming:
However that didn't prevent my son from getting a creditable 21m on his first attempt:
This put him into 2nd place in his age group:
He did go back for a few more attempts to try and catch the 1st place person. I eventually joined the queue myself and I was right behind the reigning British champion Alex Lewis. To win the title he threw 107m but on Windermere he wasn't in quite such good form:
I really hope no-one captured my pathetic 7m skim... In future I will leave the skimming up to my son who really got into the competition:
Unfortunately he was gradually pushed down the leader board and his time in 3rd place was a short one:
The winner in his category threw 49m and next year he will be in the next category with throws up to 72m. Guess he needs to get practising...
Wow, some really impressive skimming there! I'm totally pathetic at skimming stones so I'm impressed by your 7m and Oliver's skims are amazing! Plenty of time to practice for next year! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteNeed to after every parkrun!
ReplyDeleteThis looks stunning. My son is really keen on the idea of visiting caves and underground places at the moment so I am sure he would love this! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty around!
ReplyDeleteI clicked on your link on seeing your Irish outings - we are in Ireland too, in Wicklow to be exact. We have been through Waterford a number of times before, but we've never stopped to visit the city. My oldest is fascinated by the Vikings so we really should make an effort. I bet your son really enjoyed Tramore too.
ReplyDelete#CountryKids
There are virtual reality Vikings in the city he would love them!
ReplyDeleteMy girls love this...I make it for them now and again and cover it in pasta sauce. Such a fun easy meal x
ReplyDeleteI love the Viking history here and the architecture of the tower. I think I'd take offence to being called a wench though! What a great day out and some great photos of your son exploring. That welcome coffee break looks very tasty and I would love to get my hands on one of those giant chess boards.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
I do love a good cave visit, it is like a lesson in geography right in front of your eyes. The stalagmites here look amazing. The tour and steps into and out of the cave look really well organised. As for those vikings they were a cruel bunch weren't they!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
Waterford is a beautiful city, we have visited many times. It really is steeped in history. I love the large chess set! #countykids
ReplyDeleteI would love to go back without kids!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great day; history, cake, games :) Despite spending quite a bit of time in Ireland, I haven't visited Waterford, must rectify that at some point! #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely city and that was a winning combination!
ReplyDeleteOoh lots to explore. I want the cakes please? haha :) #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteWOW that looks scary! :) But great experience. #CountryKids
ReplyDeletethey weren't the nicest people! must be the geographer in me that gets me down caverns everywhere I go..
ReplyDeleteonly when they turned the lights out!
ReplyDeleteSorry all gone!
ReplyDeleteI can't even make them skim, so you are doing better than me. Well done to Oliver. Mich x #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteHe had a practice today!
ReplyDeleteIts amazingly technical ;-)
ReplyDeleteCool! As a kid I used to go down to the local river and try - and try! - to skim a stone the whole way across. I eventually did it, but the width can't have been more than 20m or so, so your son is already better than me! Congratulations for his efforts, and good luck to him in future events. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteOh wow I didn't realise there were serious competitions, and it certainly looks popular. I'm rubbish at skimming stones but can never find a decent stone to do it with. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteThis sounds serious business! 107m?!? That's amazing and sure my mummy would be able to even throw 2m! What an unusual but fun day!
ReplyDelete#CountryKids x
ReplyDeleteguess he needs a bit more practise but that was amazingly well done for his first time. The Isle of Easdale near Oban has a stone skimming championship every year and it is very competitive and well atended as well. No idea of distances as never actually been but SIL2 goes regularly. #countrykids
ReplyDeleteThat is a good attempt for a first entry into the competition. Love how they provide skimmers for you rather than searching for them! It part of childhood learning to skim, way to go! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteSounds like Oliver did well with skimming 21m - I'm not sure I could skim more than a few metres (if at all!) I never realised stone skimming was such a serious business! :-) #countrykids
ReplyDeleteOh wow sounds like a great event! Good on your boy for doing so well
ReplyDeleteThat looks like so much fun and what incredible skimming. I've never successfully managed it. It is fun though xx #countrykids
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