Monday, July 11, 2011

White to compete in Dew Tour

OCEAN CITY -- When the Flying Tomato comes to the beach, does he get a tan?
Shaun White, the extreme sports icon whose nickname is derived from his long, curly red hair, heads up the list of more than 40 professional competitors coming to town for this month's kickoff of the 2011 Dew Tour.

White, who initially made a name for himself in Olympic snowboarding, will compete in the skate vert competition. He'll be joined by Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek and 2010 skate vert champion Pierre-Luc Gagnon.

Pedro Barros, Rune Glifberg and Andy MacDonald will compete in the debut of the Dew Tour's skate bowl competition, and many athletes are participating in both skateboarding competitions.
Daniel Dhers will defend his standing as BMX Park champion against veteran Ryan Nyquist -- who designed the park course -- and 16-year-old Brett Banasiewicz, while Chad Kagy will look to repeat as BMX Vert champ against Steve McCann and Francisco Zurita.

The event, now dubbed the Pantech Open after a mobile phone manufacturing company sponsoring it, will take place from July 21-24. It's the first of four Dew Tour stops this summer. The tour determines its champions based on a cumulative points system after the final stop in Las Vegas. After Ocean City, the tour will continue on to Portland, Ore., and then Salt Lake City.

The event will be broadcast live on NBC Sports and is also broadcast on MTV, MTV2 and USA. It's also broadcast on various international channels. The broadcast schedule has yet to be determined.
Preparation crews will come into town Monday to start setting up for the competition a full 10 days before it starts. The setup will take place during nighttime hours, a suggestion made by the Town Council to help avoid interference with the town's normal activities.

Work was initially supposed to begin Wednesday, but the council granted permission to Chris Prybylo, vice president at Alli Sports, to begin work earlier.

"We just want to make sure we have enough time to do everything in the hours that you would like us to," Prybylo said at a June 20 council meeting, during which he briefly outlined some of the construction plans that will take place in an area of the beach that will span several blocks coming north from the pier.

One feature of the setup will be a plastic road installed at Dorchester Street that will extend onto the beach. The road will give the 40 or so tractor-trailers the direct sand access needed to load and unload equipment for the event.

Alli plans to lessen the burden on the town by contracting its own security entity and providing a medical staff to serve participants and spectators. Both will supplement the police and EMS departments' normal patrolling of the area, to lessen overtime costs.

The Ocean City police presence in the area of the event will be at normal levels for most of the event, with extra forces slated to work during the concert portion, said City Manager Dennis Dare. The artists who will perform have yet to be named.

"I've talked to many of the participants, and they're really looking forward to Ocean City," Prybylo said, singling out Nyquist, who has two children and said he was looking forward to bringing his family to town. "I think this is going to be a huge impact."

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14

 

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