“I think (skimboarders) just need to figure out the right formula to make it work out,” said Fink. Will this ever change? Is there a brighter future for skimming? Conklin and Fink seem to think so. They have mastered a difficult, visually appealing sport that draws attention on social media, but few brands are willing to put game-altering money into it. Today’s professional skimboarders find themselves in no-man’s land. Both riders also have support from Exile Skimboards. Aside from CatchSurf and Reef, Conklin counts on support from DJI and I-SEA sunglasses to complement the revenue generated by his YouTube channel. He’s also looking to diversify his income and get into the business of paid speaking engagements. Fink gets support from RedBull and various brands that pay for one-off sponsored social media posts. Now that they’ve made it big (at least in skimboard terms), both Fink and Conklin have found their niches to milk skimboarding for dollars. ![]() Therefore there isn’t an industry that’s thriving around it.” “It’s so difficult to learn and get good at that there aren’t as many people that do it. “(Skimboarding is) a fraction the size of surfing,” added Conklin. ![]() “There are a lot of really talented skimboarders that are placing first on the tour and once they win they don’t have a whole lot of support.” “It’s kind of a sad state of affairs,” said Conkin. But what is it particularly about skimboarding that holds it back? Conklin has a theory. It’s clear that surf brands are not as likely to throw money at skimboarders compared to surfers. I guess I have wave pools to thank a lot for what I’m doing these days.” That really boosted me and allowed me to pursue what I love to do full time. ![]() Basically, I didn’t start making a living off of skimboarding until I was sponsored by some surf companies. “CatchSurf was already supporting me at this time, but after the Stab High event I was approached by Reef sandals. “I was voted into the Waco Stab High contest (in 2018) and I ended up doing pretty well in it riding a soft board,” Conklin recalled. “I used to compete on the United Skim Tour, which was great for the ten years that I did it, but it was never going to be enough to afford to live in California, especially my hometown of Laguna Beach,” said the 28-year-old Conklin who also holds a degree from UC Berkeley. ( The man can also tear apart a river wave.) In Conklin’s case, he decided to try his skills in a wave pool. Like Fink, Conklin’s big break was when he stepped away from shorebreak skimming at home. But why isn’t being the world’s best professional skimboarder enough to pay the bills? Fink and Conklin both have an online presence that keeps pace, or even outperforms, other well-paid professional freesurfers. And for Conklin, it could be argued that it was his skill wave pool surfing with alternative boards – soft tops and skimboards – that brought him fame.īoth athletes have had to look beyond their original sport of skimboarding to make a living. But it’s likely that it wasn’t skimboarding in its traditional sense that brought them to your attention.įor Fink, getting towed into monster waves at Nazare on his finless skimboard thrust him into the limelight. ![]() If you follow ocean sports, you’ve probably heard of these two skimboarders, or came across their videos while scrolling through your feed. He’s racked up 2.2 million YouTube subscribers, 1.7 million Tiktok followers, and 300k Instagram followers. The Brazilian regularly posts videos that get over a million views.Īnother former three-time world champion skimboarder from Laguna Beach, Blair Conklin, has used skimboarding to become a viral star on social media as well. The maneuver in the video is pretty pedestrian by his elite standards, but apparently the masses scrolling on social media are eating it up. One video of him sliding out to ride shorebreak on his skimboard and wrapping it back to the beach has garnered 26 million views on Tiktok. Three-time world champion skimboarder Lucas Fink is used to his videos going absurdly viral.
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