2011 Malibu FLOW Championships Kicks Off with Trials

The Malibu Flowboarding Championships presented by the city of Durban, does not officially begin until tomorrow however the first day of trials for the wild card spots got the competition off to a hot start. With competitors coming from as close as the host city of Durban to as far away as San Diego, flowriding has yet to see such a tremendous turnout for the FLOW ( Flowriding League of the World) Championships since its inception two years ago. The talent and progression of the sport has excelled at a pace that was once unheard of and the level of competition is proof of that.

Leading off the day on the FlowRider(add trademark) were the Men's flowboard division where some of the top riders from around the globe, who did not make their respective teams, gave it one more shot to qualify for the main event. Longtime flow tour veteran Nick Nguyen, European hot shot Quincy Vlijtig, and Singaporean Sham Jamal were all skilled enough to grab the three remaining spots in the main event.

Next came the FlowRider body boarders division who both put on a show for the crowd that was on hand to witness the action. Team USA rider Sean Silvera qualified as a wild card for the prone body division. After completing the trials for the FlowRider divisions all the action shifted to the FlowBarrel aka D-Rex or B-Max's (San Diego's FlowBarrel) older meaner brother with a double breaking barrel. The action kicked off with the women's division, who saw all three competitors moving onto the main event. As we continue through to the other divisions the competition got even more intense as the prone and drop knee bodyboarding divisions were claimed through a couple of highly competitive heats where only a few would be moving onto the main event.

The afternoon was concluded by the Men's Strapped trials which was one of the highlights of the day with competitors throwing huge tricks that one would expect to see from these experienced riders who already qualified for their respective teams. Local legends Tyrone Rawlins and Rob Whyte battled for the two spots and advanced into the main event because of their technical tricks with incredible amplitude.

Stay tuned for more updates on the action at WaveHouse Durban going down in South Africa for the 2011 Malibu Flowriding Championships presented by the city of Durban. Also don't forget to check out the live webcast for all of the flow action starting on October 6th.

Trials Results:
Womans Strapless- Jess Nichols(USA)
Mens strapped - Tyrone Rawlins(RSA) , Rob Whyte(RSA)
Woman's Strapped- Jess Nichols(USA), Vanessa Arroyo(USA), Jillian Tay(SIN)
Body Boarding Prone- Michael Osler(RSA), Jared Visick(RSA), Guy Johnson(RSA)
Body Boarding Drop Knee- Michael Osler(RSA), Nick Nguyen(USA)
Body Boarding Prone (flow)-Sean Silvera(USA)
Mens Stand Up -(flow)- Nick Nguyen(USA), Quincy Vligtig (EUR), Sham Jamal (SIN)