Stone-skimming: ‘How I became one of the best in the world’

From skimming pebbles on tiny lakes to driving more than a stone’s throw away to become a world champion.

Yes, you read correctly… there is a world championship for stone-skimming.

Many of us will remember trying beat our siblings with the perfect stone to skip across the water during trips to the beach or park.

But for Christina Bowen Bravery, that fun as a youngster on the lakes in Llangorse, Powys and in Plymouth, Devon soon became more than just a small, competitive family game.

The 43-year-old travels the country on the lookout for the perfect stone and now her beady eyes, determination and skill have made her the best woman in the world at not one, not two, but three championships across the UK.

“I never thought by the age of 39 I’d be a world champion,” said Christina, who grew up in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

She said her passion for the craft started when she was about four years old on family trips to Plymouth.

“My dad showed me how to skim stones and I have a vague recollection of someone on the beach showing me how to hold the stone when I was very young… just trying to get that skim, trying to hit the mooring buoys further out.

“It was just that competitive spark in me to compete against myself to make it go further.”

All that left Christina until she was reliving her childhood memories with her daughter in the Lake District in 2012.

Skimming stones was the fuel she needed to reignite her childhood joy.

In 2017, she received a notification for the All England Stone Skimming Championships in Windermere.

“A good family day out,” she thought – until she was knocked off the podium by her competitors.

Christina, who works at a preschool, said she then “got the bug” and her “competitive streak came out” to give it another go. She ended up placing third with a distance of 37m (121ft).

The second time around, in 2018, she placed first with an improved distance of 45m (147ft), and again in 2019 with 41m (134ft).

So how does it work? Think javelin, but with stones and water.

The rules: You’re not allowed to skim outside of the v-shaped landing point and your stone must skip at least three times for it to count.

Criteria used by Christina.

Standing in line, Christina said she saw a fellow competitor sporting a jumper with the words World Stone Skimming Championships.

She hadn’t known such a thing existed.

“I went home and the cogs were going, I thought ‘hmm Scotland, not too far away’ but when I Googled it, I found out it was six hours away, and wow, that’s one heck of a drive!”

Finances, having two kids and accommodation worries put her off the idea… until one Friday afternoon in work her friend told her “you should do this”.

“So I quickly jumped online and Googled hostels and went ‘right, I’m going to do it’.

“I called my partner and went ‘you’ve got the kids. I’m off to the world championships’. He didn’t get much choice in the matter.”

And that was that. She embarked on a six-hour journey to to Easdale Island in Scotland.

She recalled about 350 competitors from all over the world fighting to make stones glide over the water the farthest, including people she met from America, Canada and Australia.

“The adrenaline was going, I was really nervous. I thought ‘what if I’m no good, this is the world championships, there’s gonna be some really good people there’.”

She chose stones from a bucket of size-island regulated slate and threw 41m (135ft).

Unaware of whether she had thrown hard enough, she pondered while “oohs and ahs” echoed around the usually silent island as previous champions skimmed.

But seven hours later, to her surprise, she was crowned the queen of skimmers.

She described feeling completely “overwhelmed” and full of “pure elation”.

In June 2022, Christina added the women’s Welsh Open Stone Skimming Champions title in Brewery, Llanwrtyd Wells, to her belt.

It is a skill that she said was “in the genes”, as her daughter Imogen and son Ethan also won in their categories with throws of 20m (65ft) and 35m (114ft) respectively.

While Christina said she thought the low-key sport should be publicised more, she begrudgingly admitted there could be more competition to fight off.

“But I definitely think more people should give it a go, if you can throw a stone, you can do it… it’s a natural progression,” she said. “It’s not a wasted childhood throwing stones in the sea.”

Christina hopes to float to the top of the podium once again during the upcoming world championships in September after it was postponed due to Covid.

This time, she said she hoped to become the first woman to hit the back wall of the quarry at the Easdale – 63m (206ft) away from the starting point.