Australian Damian King claimed back-to-back world titles in 2003 and 2004, and in 2011 won the Dropknee World Tour.
The charismatic Australian bodyboarder, now 46 years-old, retired from professional bodyboarding more than a decade ago. But Damian King is now preparing to compete against some of the world’s best.
You see, it was at the Banzai Pipeline, the famous Hawaii’s North Shore break, that Kingy claimed his first world title, and he last competed on the world tour in 2014.
He won at Pipe two times: in 2004 and 2006. There’s a sense of special care and respect in this equation.
King didn’t take the decision to go back to the jersey lightly. “I received the invitation a few months ago. I thought: Well, I am 46, I am not going to be able to surf those waves forever. I am still in fairly good condition… So let’s do it”, he told ABC.net.au.
King knows the competition will be tough at Pipeline, a powerful wave where dreams and nightmares can take place in just a small fraction of time, but said he was focused on his own game.
Interesting (and crazy) is the plan he has to compete with the Rheopaipo bodyboard he rode to victory at Pipeline in January 2004. According to the former world champion, “I dusted that off the other day. I have kept it and it is in perfect condition. The board has everything I need it to have still. So, if it gets really big, that’s the board I will probably use, a board I had made more than 20 years ago. It will be pretty special to take that out too.”
The 2025 Pipeline Bodyboarding Championship is not a part of the IBC World Tour and has its holding period between February 25th and March 10th. The event will run on the best three days.
Damian King is in the Open Men’s Division, which is composed of 96 competitors from more than 20 countries, including some big-name legends like Mike Stewart, Kainoa McGee, Haouli Reeves, Jared Houston, Jeff Hubbard, Dave Hubbard, and Andre Botha.
The organization is trying to rebuild the bodyboarding platform for the next generation. Dreams are made of this.
