TANNERSVILLE, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Forty-eight surfers will be hitting the waves of Tahiti to compete in this year’s Paris Olympics.
28/22 News headed to Camelbeach at Camelback Resort in Tannersville to try out one of the newer sports in the Olympics, surfing. But Camelback Resort calls it the "FlowRider."
T-shirt fundraiser for Irish dancer battling cancerLead Lifeguard at Camelbeach, Thomas Smith says, “It’s similar but I wouldn’t say I’d be able to hop on a surfboard and do it as good as those guys do it for sure.”
The FlowRider is a surf simulator where you can bodyboard or surf on the wave.
Last weekend the resort hosted a ‘Flow Tour’ with more than 60 riders from all across the country to compete.
Molly Coneybeer, the Marketing Director at Camelbeach said, “These were pros and amateurs, and some of the tricks that they were pulling off, I mean it was crazy to see. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
28/22 News decided to try it out and take tips from the Flow Captain, Sam Daniels.
“This ride obviously is not like snowboarding or regular surfing, so you want to keep your weight pushing against the wave so you want to have your weight in your back foot and your shoulders facing wherever you’re looking," says Daniels.
Even holding on for help is not an easy task to do.
“It’s a lot more tiring than it looks. I think personally the body board is very tiring when you’re moving around a lot of stuff like that. It can be a tiring sport, but it’s very rewarding and if you want a free way of exercise this is a very good way to do it," says Smith.
The Olympics stirs up excitement not just for surfing but all water sports like swimming.
Lifeguard Trainer, Riley Rushatz says, “I really enjoy watching the surfing and the swimming. I always tell my lifeguards you know go watch the Olympics when we’re done because you just did half of what they do on a normal basis.”
But can someone from this area make it to a future Olympics for swimming or surfing?
“(It takes) lots of hard work, lots of hard work but stay motivated, honestly that’s all it is," Rushatz said.
The Olympics run from July 26 to August 11, you can keep up with NBC’s Olympic coverage on WBRE.