The last weekend in August was no ordinary weekend, at least, not for visitors to East Coast Park. The atmosphere was abuzz with high energy as the region’s extreme sports enthusiasts converged upon the park for the first ever Singapore Extreme Championship, which marked the official opening of Xtreme SkatePark @ East Coast.

A total of 75 competitors from seven countries around Asia took part in this two-day event across three disciplines: Skateboard, Aggressive In-Line and BMX Freestyle. Spectators were also wowed by the demo performances by elite X-Games professional athletes from Japan and Australia – Takeshi Yasukoto (Aggressive In-Line), Trevor Ward (Skateboard) and Tim Wood (BMX Freestyle).

“...I have been skating for about 16 years and I have been waiting for a park
like this...”
- Fazuly bin Sudarmaji, Aggressive In-line Skating Champion

Trevor Ward, who thrilled the audience with vertical jumps on his skateboard, was in turn impressed by the rise of extreme sports in Singapore. “The level of local athletes in the last ten years has really improved. The park itself is phenomenal, there was a buzz in the crowd the whole weekend, and that can only be good news for the sport here, and in the region.”

With more than 30,000 extreme sports enthusiasts in Singapore, of whom around 18,000 are into inline skating and skateboarding, it came as no surprise that Singapore’s athletes proved themselves more than worthy of this generous praise from a seasoned pro: Fazuly bin Sudarmaji (Aggressive In-Line) and Juraimi bin Jumali (Skateboard) finished as champions in their respective disciplines in the championship. Their prize: an automatic berth at the KIA X Games in Shanghai next year.

Said Fauzly, “I have been skating for about 16 years and I have been waiting for a park like this for 16 years! Well it’s good that it actually came. I told everybody about it and they keep telling me that it’s better to be late than never.”

The dust has since settled on the inaugural Singapore Extreme Championship. But the Xtreme SkatePark, as one of only two skate parks in Asia of international standard, is slowly gaining a firm reputation among local adrenaline junkies as a world-class playground and practice space. Even for park visitors who aren’t inline skaters, skateboarders or BMX freestylers, just watching the stunts (and spills) can be a thrilling experience in itself!

The Xtreme SkatePark is located at East Coast Park, near Carpark F1.
Its opening hours are 7:30am to 10:00pm, and lighting hours are 7pm to 10pm.

For more details and safety guidelines, visit the Xtreme SkatePark page on NParks’ website

By Ng Hui Bing