SINTRA, Portugal — On Sept. 10, David Hubbard made history at the Sintra Portugal Pro, becoming only the second bodyboarder in history to earn nine world titles.
Hubbard, 40, of Lihu‘e, is now tied with legendary waterman Mike Stewart, who also holds nine world titles. The difference is that Hubbard holds each of his titles in the drop-knee category, while Stewart holds his in the men’s bodyboarding division.
Many of Hubbard’s titles (like Stewart’s) were earned by winning a single championship event, but this year the International Bodyboarding Corporation ran a tour with four DK events to determine the world champion. Hubbard, who has been competing on the world tour since 2005, commented, “This was the best tour we’ve ever had for the drop-knee division.”
The final event took place at the Sintra Portugal Pro, which has been the site of many DK world championship events. This year, the title was decided by counting the result from the Sintra event plus a rider’s best result in any of the other events. This made Hubbard’s prowess still vulnerable to attack.
But because of Hubbard’s several earlier wins, he was guaranteed to secure the title if a tie were to result. Making the final would be enough for Hubbard to win, but Amaury Lavernhe, Fabien Thazar and Iain Campbell were all contenders at the start of the event.
Campbell was a standout in round five and performed what many heralded as “the maneuver of the event.” Thazar fell in the quarters, but Lavernhe continued to progress. Campbell and Hubbard faced off in the semifinal, which was a heated battle.
When the dust settled from the final exchange, it was Hubbard who advanced to the final and so clinched his ninth DK world title. Lavernhe also progressed into the final, where he got payback by taking the event win over Hubbard. “I’m really stoked on my performance in the DK, and it means a lot to me to win over the champ.” Lavernhe said.
In Hubbard’s 16 years competing in the DK division of the world tour he has never finished lower than third place overall. For the years that he didn’t walk away with the title, he was runner-up six times.
“I know some sports really treasure youth, but I feel great, and bodyboarding is one of those sports that you can do well into those golden years,” Hubbard remarked, addressing his age. “I’m excited for what the future holds in competitive bodyboarding. God willing, I plan to show up and contend for future titles.”
A victory celebration is planned Sunday, Oct. 9, at Prince Kuhio Park in Kukui‘ula from 2 to 5 p.m. It is an alcohol-free event open to the public.
Kicking off in Chile, the Antofagasta Bodyboard Festival (ABF) hosted an epic tournament which spotlighted the DK category. Some of the best conditions and highest scores of the entire event were seen in the DK. Sammy Morretino, defending DK world champion and also a Kaua‘i resident, started off strong with a 19.5 out of possible 20 (the highest heat total of the event).
But it was Hubbard who won all of his DK heats and put all but one of his opponents in a combination situation (where they needed a combination of two new scores to attack the lead that Hubbard had over them). Hubbard’s domination of the event produced two perfect 10s on his way to victory, one of them being the very last wave of the final. “It was really special. I’ve never felt quite like that after a heat,” Hubbard said of the final.
The next event took place at PK’s on Kaua‘i’s South Shore, the Garden Island Boogieboard Classic (GIBBC). While this event didn’t offer the same amount of points as the other events on tour, it was the most hotly contested.
Hawai‘i, known for producing great DK riders, had ample action-packed match-ups at the Fourth annual GIBBC. High numbers were put up by each of the four finalists, and the margin between first and second was very tight.
Hubbard kept his momentum up, narrowly taking the event win over Sammy Morretino, Kawika Kamai and Kaleo Huddy. “It was a big confidence boost for me to finally win here at home in the DK category,” said Hubbard on the result.
Event three took place in the Maldives just days after the GIBBC, and was another spectacular DK display. This event in particular was a huge part of the success of the 2022 tour.
It was the first time in bodyboarding world tour history that the same two riders were in both the men’s and the DK finals together, as Lavernhe faced off with Hubbard in both. Hubbard was quick to secure a strong lead in the DK final and took his third straight event win for the year.
The men’s division had Lavernhe leading nearly the entire heat until Hubbard found the best score in the final seconds. “That was a career highlight for me,” said Hubbard, “I’ve been working my whole career to win a world tour event in the men’s, and to do it alongside a win in the DK was surreal.”
Hubbard was born and raised on Kaua‘i. He began surfing and bodyboarding at a young age. He became a state bodyboarding champion at age 12, a bodyboarding national champion at age 16, Pipeline DK champion at age 18, and DK world champion at age 23. Still residing on Kaua‘i, he competes professionally and co-owns a bodyboard brand with his brother Jeff Hubbrd. They are the sons of Barbara and Mark Hubbard of Lihu‘e. Jeff Hubbard is also involved with several community iniatives focused on youth.
The IBC is a nonprofit organization that represents and promotes bodyboarding across the world at all levels, from grassroots development through to professional world-tour events.
