COMPETITION
OCEANSIDE
FREESTYLE
Oceanside, California is right next
to Camp Pendleton USMC, the larg-
est known military installation in the
world. Oceanside also has one of the
highest crime rates in the state be-
cause the marines usually have no
place to party. Everywhere you turn, in
Oceanside, you're faced with Jar
heads."
One recreational spot in Oceanside
is right next to the pier. There's a bas-
ketball court and bandstand/grand-
stand area.
One marine, a soldier by the name
of Eric Hilton, happens to be an ex-
ception from the rest of the troops at
Camp Pendleton. In order to appease
Fmself of the mind-control world of
the military, he often skates freestyle
on the big cement floor in front of the
grandstand. Something private; Hilton
against himself. He and his skate,
away from the, You will go there and
there will be death world
One day he went here, just like al-
ways when he had free time, and a full
fledged contest was in progress. It's
the World Series of Skateboarding.
Freestyle contests, part of the Pro/Am
series. He enters.
As it turns out it's a two-day long
event. He wonders to himself, why
have two days just for a freestyle con-
test? He had never entered a freestyle
contest before.
The first day was a C.A.S.L. event
in which he placed first in the 1-A 17-
and-over division. So he enters the
Amateur in the Pro/Am the next day. It
was Sunday, the 14th of August. The
weather forecast for the day was un-
questionable. In the morning it was
bright and shining, and hot, but local
weatherman said a storm was sup-
posed to happen. Nothing makes
sense anymore.
First on the agenda of this long day
of festivities were the Amateur events,
in which a healthy contingency of par-
ticipants appeared to battle it out on
the horizontal.
Some of the most impressive en-
trants included Bill Swartzbaugh, Ad-
rian Demian, Ray Gardea and rising
freestyle shredder Bob Schmelzer.
Bob from San Jose, CA, is quickly be-
coming one of the hottest Am. free-
stylers around.
Eric himself also shredded up to
Par.
The competition was tough, and as
the heat increased in the atmosphere
and on the ground, the finals revealed
the top three male freestylers of the
day. In third came Bob Schmelzer,
and Adrian Demain (an Oceanside
local) powered his way into second
with a smoothish style. In first place
came another San Jose local, Ray
Gardea, who just dominated the Ama-
teur event with some near-perfect
runs. Since Keith Butterfield has
moved up to the Pros, the Am scene
has turned topsy turvy.
The next event was the Girls-Am,
with only three entrants in this event.
These young ladies were showing a
lot of promise in the realm of stiff com-
petition.
In third was Michelle Sanderson,
whose constant exposure to skate-
boarding has influenced her decision
to compete. Michelle has an unusually
calm and undaunted approach to
competition. April Hoffman, from Up-
land, was the one to place second.
Ever since she saw Rodney Mullen
skate some months ago, she's been
hooked on freestyle, and her reper-
toire consists of the more gutsy moves
instead of the fluid femininity of her
contenders. The first place winner
was Diane Veerman, girlfriend of
Primo Desiderio. She skates freestyle
much of the time. She has one of the
best teachers of freestyle in her com-
panion; thus she performs dynami-
cally graceful routines with a taste of
influence from her mentor.
The High Jump is an event that has
been ignored in past freestyle con-
tests in the U.S. It's introduction as the
next event at Oceanside proved to be
not only a pleasant deviation from the
norm, but entertaining as well. This
special event started with a big crowd
of entrants, which slowly whittled
down to a select few. The whole time
guys were leaping up over the bar,
while some of them Wilsoned' upon
landing. This event was something
the crowd could practically experi-
ence, what with the leaps, falls, and
close calls. Per Holknekt was the
Swede who successfully completed
the highest jump of the day at 49".
Second and third went to Shane
Rouse (the English freestyle champ)
and Steve Cosmo, both three inches
less than Per at 4'6",
Bikinis were next. Unselfishly, Don
Hoffman put up 50 of his own bucks
for the winner of this bathing beauty
contest. After all judging was con-
ducted, a final vote from the audience
declared Diane Veerman the bikiniest.
At one point some considerate spec-
tator/skaters doused the whole line of
beauties with buckets full of water.
Some people didn't understand the
jest and called the young men 'A-
holes."
After that there was some time
wasted with a BMX demo. Since the
skaters' attention was placed else-
where, most dashed off into the near-
by surf that virtually lies steps away.
They took off with skim boards and
knee boards leaving the BMX demo
behind. They simply didn't care.
Eric Hiton idly stood by, and period-
ically practiced a new trick he'd seen
done by the Pros who were warming
up nearby.
An off-duty marine walked up to Eric
and said, "Aren't you a jarhead?" Eric
looked up at the 'gyrene' and said
positively. "Yup."
It was still pretty warm by the time.
the Pros finally began their competi-
tion. The sun was easing into the
ocean and shadow slowly but deter-
minedly began to strich across the
competition surface.
This was to be one of the fiercest
displays of freestyle batting ever to be
witnessed for some time. Rodney
Mullen's sojourn in Europe still leaves
the door open to anyone caring to try
and sit in his spot. And there were a
few who looked as though that spot
was just their size.
The grandstand seating began to fill
as the day wore on. Valley types from
Mike Foster with an endless supply
of variations.
FLIP
SIDE
Shane Rouse
Keith Butterfield took everyone by surprise this contest.
Here he performs in the center of this panoramic
photograph showing the Pacific Ocean and to the
right the Oceanside Pier
Steve Cosmo
G&S
Ray Gardea, a future threat.
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