It takes nearly 24 hours to fly from South Africa to British Columbia.
But Simon Sturrock expects to blast through the course at the Britannia Classic significantly faster than that.
The South African native will make his North American longboarding debut at the eighth annual event on Sunday (May 24) after word of the race in Britannia Beach reached his continent.
鈥淚鈥檝e never raced this side of the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e seen videos of Britannia and I鈥檓 just really keen to get there and race it. Lots of the top skaters go and race it, and I think it will help with my experience. Being all the way in South Africa and never skating the course yet, I鈥檓 not too sure on its reputation, but from what I can see it looks like one legendary race.鈥�
Sturrock said he discovered the sport from school friends and developed a love for it.
鈥淢ost of the people I would hang out with at school were skating and I really liked the way they would just flow down a hill,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his made me really keen to try, it gave me a feeling of just being free. After that it just got better and better and I wanted to go faster, and here I am now in North America.鈥�
He said the longboarding scene is small but growing in South Africa. Sturrock has competed in races all over his home country and has developed a strong social media presence. His athlete page on Facebook has more than 1,200 likes, and he also has a popular YouTube channel.
He said he鈥檚 eager to hit the course in Britannia Beach.
鈥淢y goals are to have fun and do as well as I can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about just going there and giving it one鈥檚 best. Anything can happen in a race 鈥� you can get crashed out in your first heat, but that鈥檚 racing and you鈥檒l walk away with more experience.鈥�
Sturrock is competing in the open category in Britannia and hopes to stick around North America for most of the summer. He鈥檚 heading to races in Santa Barbara and Maryhill, Wash. and hopes to compete at the Whistler Longboarding Festival in September.
For more information on Sturrock, visit www.simonstrurrock.wordpress.com.
Check out Sturrock and all the other athletes at the Britannia Classic on Sunday starting at 10 a.m. For more details on the event, visit www.britanniaclassic.com.
