Pamela Bowren, Director of Sport at The Diocesan School for Girls, been selected along with four other riders and a manager to represent South Africa in the 2012 ISA World Bodyboarding Games in Venezuela, South America, from 24 November to 2 December 2012.
Pamela Bowren, Director of Sport at The Diocesan School for Girls, been selected along with four other riders and a manager to represent South Africa in the 2012 ISA World Bodyboarding Games in Venezuela, South America, from 24 November to 2 December 2012.
Pamela will be riding in the Open women’s division. This is her second time representing South African Body Boarding, although the first time she was part of the ISA World Surfing Games where bodyboarders, longboarders and surfers all competed in the same World Games event.
Last year, bodyboarding hosted their own, independent, World Games and this is now going to be an annual event. Bowren's selection for this year's SA team came from the South African Bodyboarding Association's (SABA) rankings, which involved a number of contests throughout the year.
Riders enter the various contests as individuals, rather than for their province. Bowren will also be taking part in the South African Championships take place in October – here riders represent themselves but also form part of a provincial team. Bowren says she has always loved the ocean. "I've been in it since I was a few years old.”
She started the sport of bodyboarding at the age of 11 and competed in her first contest in 2001 at the age of 15. She went on to make the SA team in 2008 for the first time. She emphasises that bodyboarding is not exactly like surfing.
“Yes, you ride the same waves but the technicalities, techniques, manoeuvres, etc are very different,” said Bowren.
Bodyboarders ride a bodyboard, which is much smaller than a surfboard, on their stomachs, or on one knee (dropknee division). One scores points for the type of manoeuvre executed, the cleanness and the size and difficulty of the manoeuvre, as well as where one has executed the manoeuvre on the wave.
Each wave is rated out of 10 points. The South African Bodyboarding team competing in the 2012 World Games in Venezuela have no funding, so each rider is looking for individual and team sponsorships. If you would like to sponsor the SA team in this extreme sport, please call Bowren at 084 588 4273.
“Bodyboarding is a lifestyle and an opportunity to enjoy nature and just be out in the ocean,” concluded Bowren.
