Cedar Park teenage slalom skateboarder goes for world record
CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) -- Nine-point-nine seconds.
That is the current world record time for the women's cyber slalom event, according to the International Slalom Skateboarding Association. It was set in 2012, but a 14-year-old high school student in Cedar Park is looking to break that record this summer.
Her name is Maggie Harrison and she has been competing in the sport since she was 7. In August, she'll attempt to officially break the record and then will represent the United States at the World Skate games in Italy later this year.
What is slalom skateboarding?
The name of the game in slalom skateboarding is speed and efficiency. A skater tries to weave in and out between a set amount of cones in the fastest amount of time. There are different competitions, but Harrison specializes in cyber slalom.
"That's on flat ground. It's typically with 25 cones spaced at a certain distance in a straight line, and I'm very good at that," Harrison said about cyber slalom.
There is also giant slalom, where the skater rides down a big hill and goes between cones that are more spaced out. Harrison said she has reached close to 40 miles per hour in giant slalom.
The sport is not majorly popular in the states. Harrison said she is usually the only kid at competitions, but she hopes the sport will grow in popularity. She encourages others to pick up a board and try out the sport.
"For someone it will stick. For someone it will feel like it's where they belong and it's really a beautiful family and a beautiful sport," Harrison said.
Going for the record
In slalom skating, milliseconds matter. Races can be decided by tenths-of-a-second.
Harrison said she has broken the women's world record before, and hopes to make it official in a competition. The junior women's world record is 11.58 seconds, according to the ISSA, but Harrison was beating that by a full second in practice.
In September, while her fellow classmates are getting the hang of high school, she'll be in Italy at the World Skate event. World Skate is the governing body for skateboarding in the Olympics, and there is a possibility that slalom skateboarding could be an Olympic event in the future.
Harrison competed in the World Skate event in Argentina two years ago. She said she learned a lot about competing internationally during that trip and is hoping to utilize her experience in Italy.