Surf Cat

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — World Championship skimboarders Amber Torrealba, Austin Keen, and Blair Conklin will be on hand for August 2019’s Victoria Skimboarding Championship.

Patch caught up with Torrealba to learn more about the upcoming event, and the sport that has taken the coast by storm.

She was 25-years-old when she left behind a job, and life in Florida, hopping in her small car to start over.

“I made the journey solo. It was the hardest decision of my life, but I haven’t looked back since,” Torrealba said. An avid skateboarder, she started skimboarding in 2014.

Two years later, she won the Vic Women’s World Championship of Skimboarding championship.

The next year, in 2017, an injury would end her journey.

“I took a skimboard through my wet-suit and into my shin,” she told us of the injury. Torrealba spent the off-season practicing at her favorite beaches, Thousand Steps, and Aliso Beach when the beaches are quieter, and the south swell comes in.

“To come back in 2018, when the waves were so difficult, and pull off a win? That was huge.”
Torrealba is a professional skimboarder for Victoria Skimboards. She will compete with the pros, while amateur competitions will also take place for all age groups.

Victoria Skimboards has been around since 1976, and their world championships are a “high energy” and “spectator-friendly event.”

People travel from all over the world to Aliso Beach in Laguna to participate in one of, if not the most, prestigious contests in the world for skimboarding, said Torrealba.

In 2019, she will once again throw her hat into the ring to bring home another trophy.

Torrealba dedicates time and effort to studying skimboarding, and gives it all she has as a rider on the pro-circuit.

Social media drives the sport, she explained. Followers continue to try tricks and stunts to sharpen their edge.

“Everything about skimboarding has become more technical, and riders just continue to get better and better,” said Torrealba.

Come out to watch them work at this free family-friendly event, Aug. 17 and 18, 2019 at Victoria Beach.

Sign up to compete:
2018 results: