PHILIP STOFBERG
The University of Pretoria’s Hatfield campus hosted the Dew Tour Bootcamp sponsored by Mountain Dew.
South Africa’s top action sports athletes entertained Tuks students with an array of complicated manoeuvres. They participated in a few competitions and gave first-hand classes to a few lucky students who had the opportunity to learn more about the basics of BMX and skateboarding.
According to Mountain Dew representative Aidan Johnson, the brand became involved in action sports to improve the level of the competition in South Africa. “When looking at where to get involved, Tuks was our first choice,” Johnson told Perdeby. Mountain Dew approached Markus Museler from Old School Productions, a leading company in action sports events in South Africa, to find skaters and riders to be a part of the Dew Tour. Museler told Perdeby that the professionals were more than happy to become a part of the tour as there are not many opportunities for them to compete in South Africa.
The first competition kicked off with seven skaters taking part in a high jump event. Anthony De Mendonca won the event after he was the only competitor able to clear a height in excess of one metre.
To give the skaters a chance to rest, the BMX riders demonstrated their bike skills. Brothers Adam and David Woolf, who are both also skaters, entertained the crowd by joining the BMX riders in the BMX high jump event.
The competition became serious after Malcolm Peters and David Rigby both reached the highest point that the apparatus would allow. After clearing this top level they agreed to call the competition a draw. Photos: Brad Donald, Reinhard Nell and Hendro van der Merwe
