Bodysurfing in the Pacific

If there is one thing next to reading that I really enjoy doing on the beach it is bodysurfing, and the Pacific waves for sure are terrific to do just that! πŸ˜‰

I have spend hours in the water today, waiting to catch that one perfect wave and ride it all the way to the shore. Honestly I don’t believe there is just *one* perfect wave, it’s just a matter of being at the right place at the right time (hmm, there seems to be an analogy between a perfect wave and a perfect woman, or man…uhh, let’s not get too philosophical now! πŸ˜‰ )

Lying in the water one starts to come up with all sorts of theories such as ‘where to wait for that ‘one’ perfect wave’, how to approach it when it is finally there, what body position to take, what swimming technique to use, what speed one should have, and deciding which of the bigger waves is the best to take (some say they bigger waves come seven in a row) if you bet too early, you might miss out on the perfect one just behind it! πŸ˜‰ ). Life of a bodysurfer in the Pacific ain’t all that easy! πŸ˜‰

It seems I am not alone with these thoughts and sort of mathematical approach to the art of bodysurfing as I found a clip discussing the ‘Math of Body Surfing’:

From the Catalyst show (broadcasted on ABC Television Australia):

‘Neville De Mestre, a bridge playing, Ironman world champion, who also happens to be a professor of mathematics, set out to break down the art of bodysurfing into pure mathematics and has published the first scientific paper on the physics of bodysurfing.’