The internet has been alight since footage of the first ever backflip at a wave pool dropped two days ago.
The wave pool in question was unveiled this weekend and has already got tongues wagging about how it may change the sport of surfing for ever. Cheyne Magnusson was instrumental in designing the wave, which uses 10 air chambers, compressing in sequence, to create an almost infinite different number of shape variations, bringing a level of experimentation into the fray that’s distinctly lacking from the plough based pools.
The section you saw Seth do the backflip off is apparently easily repeatable, although the boys only figured out what needing punching into the Ipad that controls the pool to create it a few days ago. “We had that wedge already designed, but we wanted somewhere to use all that speed,” Cheyne told Stab of the section’s creation “so we thought let’s build an air section. After playing around with the settings for a couple hours, we ended up creating that Cobbles-style ramp. Having that same section to hit every time is incredible. I re-learned how to do a full rotation in like… eight waves. I was like ‘Whoa, I’m skating!'”
That’s right friends, we weren’t exaggerating when we said this could change everything. This wave pool has finally offered surfing the benefits skating and snowboarding have enjoyed for years, and we’ll eat our hats if there haven’t been five new airs landed out there by this time next year.
In the meantime, here’s a clip from JOB’s vlog featuring him, Ben Gravy and Cheyne Magnusson enjoy their first session out there:
