From outliers to the Olympics

NOT that long ago the very idea of surfing, skateboarding or climbing being in the Olympics would’ve been laughable – now all three sports have been included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

FOR years they’ve been the outliers, the sports that proudly existed away from the mainstream.

Not that long ago the very idea of surfing, skateboarding or climbing being in the Olympics would’ve been laughable.

Surfers were long-haired dropouts who cared more about chasing waves than chasing a career. Skateboarders were scary punks who flew around the streets at great danger to others and themselves. Climbers called themselves “dirtbags” and wasted the best years of their lives in search of the perfect piece of rock.

These were not sports that belonged alongside “real” sports like athletics and swimming.

How times have changed. Surfers can now make seven-figure pay cheques and man-made waves in pools mean that surf contests can be held kilometres from the nearest beach. Skateboarding is more likely to take place in a park proudly paid for by taxpayers than on a busy street and climbers have been recognised as some of the world’s most skilled athletes.

All three sports have been included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and photographer Simon Cross found three of SA’s best young exponents of surfing, skateboarding and climbing, and asked how they felt about their passions making the big time.

BOULDERING

Hi, my name is Theadora Kasimidou. I am 14 years old and I am from Corfu, which is an island in Greece.

Bouldering is a form of climbing that requires good strength, power, flexibility
and gymnastic skill.

I started at the Royal Adelaide Show. There was a climbing wall there and I thought, “Why not give it a try?”. So I did, and my dad saw I was pretty good at it. I went twice to another gym, started climbing and I thought, “You know what? I should do this”.

Then I came to this gym and one of the owners of the gym kept on training me
and said, “If you kept on doing this, you’ll get really good”. So I kept doing it and after two years of climbing, I went to my first Nationals and won!

I train three times a week, for around three-and-a-half hours. Yes, I’m excited that it’s going to be in the Olympics. I want to save money and compete in every single state next year and travel all around Australia. We’re definitely growing, getting bigger and bigger. A lot more kids are starting to climb.

My other climbing friends and I are very close. We climb together, always laughing – it’s pretty chill. We see ourselves as friends, not competitors.

SURFING

Hi, my name’s Digby Tooze. I’m from the Yorke Peninsula and I’m 15 years old.

I started surfing when I was probably five years old. I think that what made me start surfing was the fact that I live so close to the beach and all my family did it.

In winter I probably surf two times a week … in the summer time it’s more like four or five times a week. I surf in all the state rounds for SA and usually I get picked to go to Nationals. I haven’t done that well in the Nationals recently, but I got into the semis a couple of years ago. I’ll compete in most comps around here, even the opens.

My favourite breaks would be Salmon Hole or Lizards, or Pondie maybe, which is about 15 minutes away from my house in Corny Point. My biggest wave is probably around … five foot. But, you know, people define it differently, but probably on the face it’s about three metres or four metres. Double my size. I caught that at Salmon Hole.

I think living on Yorkes is beneficial for my surfing. It provides a wide range of waves compared to the city, and there’s not many people on these waves so I think that’s awesome.

Yeah, I’m very excited that surfing is coming to the Olympics. It’s definitely cool that our sport is going to be in the Games, but I wish they’d done it earlier.

Hopefully one day I’ll get into the Olympics, that’s definitely one of my goals. I reckon surfing is definitely going to take off once it gets there – everybody will know a lot more about it. I don’t think people see surfing as a big sport.

My advice to someone starting surfing would be to start in small waves – beach breaks – then after at least two years move into the bigger waves and beach breaks. And talk to the locals – they know where to go.

SKATEBOARDING

My name’s Jack Sadler and I’m a skate-boarder from Adelaide, and I’m 13 years old.

When I started skateboarding, I was about 10 years old. I try to skate at least every day, and when I go, I go for at least three hours.

I got first in the South Australian skateboard title thing at Seaford Skate Park. Skateboarding was very difficult at first, but I liked it so I kept on going with it. One time I broke an ankle and tore some ligaments in the other ankle … which hurt a lot.

I don’t really have any favourite tricks, but I’ve been doing a lot of tre flips lately … that’s where the board does a 360 and spins at the same time.

I’m excited that skateboarding is in the Olympics because now it’s technically a sport, which is good.

The Olympics is definitely a goal for me, but I’ll still skateboard for fun. Maybe I’ll
aim for the next couple of Olympics because then I’ll have time to practise tricks but I won’t be too old.

It’s definitely going to become more popular now that it’s in the Olympics because it will be more well known, but I think that’s a good thing because more people might try it.

It’ll be hard and frustrating at first, but once you learn a few things, it’ll become easier and more fun.