When Adam Sitar sees a puddle gather on the grass or a sandbar in the river, his mind starts racing: kickflips, big spins, 360s, pop shuv-its and nose slides.Skimboarding might not be the only thing on Sitar’s mind, but he sure thinks about it a lot.Flatland skimboarding is the newest water sport to come to South Louisiana’s rivers, lakes, ponds and puddles. This type of skimboarding Sitar and his fellow University skimboarders practice is a little different than typical wave skimboarding.Skimboarding is a sport involving a wooden board thrown across a thin film of water. While the board is still moving the rider jumps on and skims across the water while performing tricks and spins.”Once you land a trick that you have been practicing for a long time, you get this feeling that is so awesome you can’t even describe it,” said Sitar, electrical engineering junior. “You feel on top of the world.”Sitar said he watched fellow skimboarder Nick Garcia, electrical engineering senior, land such a trick last weekend.”It wasn’t just exciting for him, it was awesome for me. It was picture perfect,” Sitar said. “It just makes you want to skim more.” And that’s just what Sitar plans on doing. He is starting the first collegiate skimboarding club in the state and the third in the country.Sitar has filed all the necessary paperwork with the Center for Student Leadership & Involvement and is waiting for approval. Once in effect, LSU Skim will be an official University student organization.Once a club, Sitar will be able to make LSU Skim T-shirts, openly recruit students on campus and participate in fundraisers to make money for the club.Sitar will serve as the president of the organization and Robert Oubre, biochemistry junior, will serve as the vice president.Wave skimboarding has been gaining popularity for the last 10 years. It takes place in the ocean and involves riders jumping over waves and performing tricks similar to those in surfing. Traditionally, flatland skimboarding has also taken place on the beach and consists of skimming over the few inches of water on the shore as the waves recede.But as skimming has gained popularity, it has moved off the beach and made its way inland. The newest form of skim is inland-flatland skim. It takes place in freshwater rivers, lakes and puddles, making it the perfect extreme sport for Louisiana.The skimboarders perform tricks on jumps and rails made from household items like PVC pipes and milk crates.”What’s good about skimboarding is we aren’t limited by the size of the boat or the expenses that come along with some other water sports like wakeboarding or waterskiing,” Oubre said. “You don’t have to be good enough to make the team. We welcome anyone who comes out.”The idea to start skimming came when Sitar and some friends were swimming in the Amite River and noticed a flat piece of plywood floating in the water. After a few attempts at skimming over the water on the piece of plywood, Sitar was hooked.He collaborated with his high school friend Stephen Crouch, who lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast before moving to Baton Rouge in high school. After graduation high school, Crouch and some friends in Mississippi developed Durty Water Skim, a skimboarding community near Gulfport, Miss.Crouch and his fellow Durty Water Skim members held several competitions and posted videos and pictures of skimboarders performing tricks in the shallow water on the Mississippi beach.The University group used the videos as inspiration, and now they are developing tricks of their own.”After you land a trick you can hear everyone in the background slapping on their boards,” Oubre said. “You hear that, and you know everybody just saw you. It’s their way of clapping for you.”There are 41 members of the LSU Skim Facebook group, and 12 members signed the paperwork with the University to become members. Sitar said more members will be added once the club becomes official.The club meets nearly every weekend at the Comite River off Interstate 12 between the O’Neal Lane and Denham Springs exits. The guys have also tried skimming around campus on the Parade Ground after heavy rains and in the University lakes.Overall, Sitar and Oubre both agreed the best part of skimboarding is spending time with their friends and doing something they love.”We’ve met a lot of awesome people through skimboarding,” Oubre said. “It’s all about just hanging out and having fun.”–
Contact Jack LeBlanc at [email protected]