Former World Champ wins Legends division
Early Saturday morning, before the droves of Six-Man attendees arrived, bodysurfers from throughout the state met at the Manhattan Beach pier for the International Body Surfing Championships. Roughly 50 spectators gathered near the north side of the pier to watch men, women and children compete in what is arguably wave-riding for purists. “Bodysurfing is just a pair of trunks and a pair of fins,” said Bob Holmes of the Gillis Beach Bodysurfing Association. “It’s the purest form of wave-riding.” The south swell made for fair conditions for the roughly 80 bodysurfers, making up nine different divisions. Competitors were judged on how well they took off from underwater, the length of rides and how many tricks they managed to pull off during each 12-minute heat. Gillis, the oldest bodysurfing club in the U.S., hosts and judges the Manhattan competition each year. “It’s the best organized and best judged bodysurfing competition of them all,” said Hal Handley, a former World Champion bodysurfer who competed Saturday in the Legends division for men aged 60 and older. “It’s put on by bodysurfers who are dedicated to and knowledgeable about the sport.” After 56 years of bodysurfing…
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