Flowriding incorporates elements of traditional surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding and skateboarding and takes place in a customised facility that pumps water at pace to replicate a wave.
Partaking in flowboarding participants will stand upon the board, similar to traditional surfing, while bodyboarding will see the participant kneeling or in a drop-knee position.
Nathan Lowry first stepped onto a surf simulation board at the popular Surf House venue at Patong Beach back in 2017 when he was just 11 years old and has been transfixed with the sport ever since that fateful day.
“I went with a friend, just to take a look and have some fun, not really knowing what to expect,” Nathan, now 17, told The Phuket News.
“However, almost immediately it grabbed a hold of me – it was so exciting and enjoyable,” he recalls. “I enjoyed it so much that I very quickly became a regular there, spending pretty much every weekend and second of spare time I had away from school there.”
In doing so Nathan got to know the instructors at Surf House Patong very well, striking up solid friendships with all of them. Some of the instructors were part of the official Surf House Phuket Team who had competed in both the annual Asian Flow Tours (AFT) and World Championships.
As he continued to develop and hone his skills, Nathan advanced to competition, coming third in the junior catgeory at the Pattaya leg of the AFT qualifiers in 2018 and second in the junior division of the AFT Grand Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the same year.
However, despite such progress, he was eager to become part of the Surf House Phuket Team and grab a bigger piece of the action. Being the only non-Thai though meant he had to work extra hard to prove himself, eventually doing so after completing a series of especially challenging flow tricks that comprised ‘the test’. Unfazed and determined, he succeeded and managed to secure a place on the team and was soon competing with them in the AFT in Thailand and Malaysia.
Making his mark
A British citizen, Nathan was born in Bahrain and has lived in Thailand since late 2008. In 2019 he turned professional in both flowboarding and bodyboarding and immediately made his mark at international level by finishing first place in both the men’s open bodyboard and open flowboard categories at the AFT Grand Finals in Chongqing, China. Hugely impressive!
That same year he finished 1st in the men’s flowboard open and 2nd in the men’s bodyboard open classes at the AFT qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, while managing to grab top spot in both classes at the AFT Singapore qualifiers at Wave House, Sentosa Beach.
Despite a COVID-19-induced break in competition, Nathan was back on the board and competing again as soon as possible.
In 2021 he also took up surfskating, a form of skateboarding that replicates the experience of surfing on dry land, finishing in 3rd place in the men’s open class at the Blue Tree Skate Park Competition and becoming a team rider for Shaka Shaka Skate Park Phuket shortly after.
Last year Nathan became a team rider for Aquaflow USA, competing in both the Bangkok Flow Wars (1st place open flowboard, 2nd place pro flowboard, and 2nd place pro bodyboard) and the Splash Mania Surf Battle in Malaysia (1st place pro flowboard and 2nd place pro bodyboard). He also received invaluable flowboard sponsorship from Aquaflow USA in the process as part of the deal.
Nathan clearly has an abundance of talent and his passion shines through, which has resulted in him wanting to pursue a career in the flowriding leisure industry. He is currently applying to study sports coaching and development at a UK college in the hope of enhancing his skills and has an aspiration to one day work on major cruise liners, many of which now have flowrider wave facilities onboard.
“I am always very proud and excited to compete,” he tells us. “The friendship and camaraderie among the riders locally, nationally and internationally is one of the highlights of this sport where the riders support each other throughout, despite it often being very competitive.
“I am thankful to everyone that has helped, supported and encouraged me along the way to help me get to where I am and where I one day hope to be,” he adds. “My family, friends, colleagues, sponsors and the team at Surf Day Phuket (formerly Surf House) who have contributed regular practice sessions to enable me to enhance my performance and reach my current level.”
It is this humble and respectful attitude that has seen Nathan develop from the early days to where he now stands and there is little doubt there is still much more ahead for the young man.