Bodyboarding is widely recognised as one of the most intense watersports on the planet. Wherever you find waves that are too heavy for even the most hardcore of surfers, there youll find the boogers – screaming into dredging pits and scoring impossibly deep barrels. Born to Boogie: Legends of Bodyboarding is the first illustrated history of the sport and traces its evolution from 1971 to the present day. The pioneers, the champions and the underground chargers are all profiled, among them Tom Morey, Pat Caldwell, Ben Severson, Jay Reale, Mike Stewart, Michael ‘Eppo’ Eppelstun, Guilherme Tamega, Andre Botha, Ryan Hardy, Damian King, Ben Player, Jeff Hubbard, Mitch Rawlins and Pierre Louis Costes. Written by respected bodyboard journalist Owen Pye, Born to Boogie tells the tale of how the sport was created, how it developed, flourished, faltered and fought back to become one of the most exciting extreme sports in the world today.Nine-times world champion Mike Stewart tells his incredible story: from starting out as Tom Morey’s teenage protege to becoming the greatest bodyboarder in the world.South African charger Andre Botha describes the day he survived the worst wipeout in contest history.Jeff Hubbard and pals recall how they launched the No Friends brand from a garage with just a fistful of dollars. Damian King talks about his troubled childhood and how his mother’s death inspired him to win a world title. Aussie innovator Michael Eppo Eppelstun reveals how he perfected the ARS (air roll spin) and the backflip in 1993, and why he kept the latter secret for months.Born To Boogie also includes chapters that re-live the excitement of two of the most dramatic contests in the history of the sport: the 2000 Tahiti Skins Event and the 2001 Shark Island Challenge. The Tahiti contest, held at the infamous Teahupoo, changed competitive bodyboarding forever. “The waves were like nuclear bombs going off,” remembers South African charger Alistair Taylor, “you could’ve got killed in that stuff!”A separate chapter in the book is devoted to the growth of women’s professional bodyboarding from the 1980s to the present day, led by standouts Stephanie Pettersen, Daniela Freitas, Claudia Ferrari and Isabela Sousa.