By Mark Ambrogi
Participants will take their shot at catching a wave in Carmel.
The FLOW Tour competition will make a stop on its national circuit July 23 at The Waterpark at the Monon Community Center. This is the second year the FLOW Tour will be in Carmel.
Traci Broman, events supervisor for Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation, said a Pro-Am event was held in 2014. The FLOW Tour then held its first full competition last summer.
“We had a great turnout last year for our first real one,” Broman said. “People like it, and last year we had a lot of people from Indiana, but also people from Utah, New Jersey, Canada and Australia. They were coming from all over.”
The FLOW Tour does the judging, and sets up the heats.
“We provide the venue and do all the registration through us,” Broman said.
The Waterpark has the only FlowRider, a simulated surfing experience, in the state of Indiana, Broman said.
“The waves go about 30 mph and we have two riders go at a time,” Broman said. “For the competition and tour, we only do one at a time. You can do flowboarding or bodyboarding. So bodyboarding is what you see in the ocean where you lay down on it. On the flowboarding, you’re standing up.”
Participants are eligible as long as they are at least 48 inches tall and have a parents’ waiver for bodyboarding and at least 52 inches tall for flowboarding.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Broman said. “I’ve done it a couple of times and my mom is 65 and she’s done it. It’s great for every age.”
There are 12 different divisions for age and ability level.
“One thing we do that no other FLOW Tour stop does is we have an adaptive division,” Broman said. “It allows our individual with special needs to compete as well. We have a group of people with special needs who learn how to do the FlowRider and they compete.”
Practices/warmups and check-in begins at 8 a.m. July 23. The event starts at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to last until 5 p.m.
To register, visit carmelclayparks.com/ccpr-events/flowtour.
The fee is $50 for Pro Division, $35 for Amateur Division plus FLOW Tour Membership. The registration fee increases $15 the day of the competition.
Spectators can watch with Waterpark admission of $10 for adults and $7 for youth (ages 3-15) and seniors (65 and over).
