Board Surfers Earn the Prestige and Money, but the Bodysurfing Set Finds Its Own Rewards . . . : On a Different Wavelength

James Sandberg squeezes into a pair of weathered, black fins, oblivious to the Styrofoam boogie boards squirting by his flank. Sandberg’s fins are older than most of the teen-agers surfing along the busy Huntington Beach shoreline on their stunted, rainbow-colored boards.

A sandy-haired computer consultant from Northridge, Sandberg has bodysurfed with the same fins for 14 years. They are the only equipment he uses, which is the way he likes it. Sandberg tests his mettle against the ocean with nothing to lean on but his wits and experience.

“Bodysurfing appeals to me because I like the feeling of the waves,” Sandberg said. “I’ve surfed before and it’s OK, but I just like bodysurfing more. If I had to be good at any sport I’m glad it’s bodysurfing. There aren’t millions of dollars in it but there is a lot of personal satisfaction.”

Sandberg, 29, will compete for the first time at the 11th annual World Bodysurfing Championships Aug. 21-23 in Oceanside. Last year in the amateur and professional competition, 400 entrants participated in nine age divisions, including a division for men 55 and older.

Sandberg is in the most competitive age division, for men 25 to 34. Mike Cunningham, an L.A. County lifeguard from Gardena, has won the division three straight years and is the four-time defending grand champion.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the bodysurfing world championships,” said Sandberg, who admitted bodysurfing is not a great spectator sport. “Bodysurfing is more of a sport for individuals. It’s hard to watch because 70% of your body is in the water. You are more a part of the wave than any other aquatic sport.”

In the championships, judges rate entrants on wave selection, sportsmanship, the length of the ride and number of maneuvers executed in the critical part of the wave. Sandberg expects to be competitive but says he’ll be at a disadvantage because of his conservative, non-acrobatic style. He prefers to catch a big wave and hang on for a long ride, leaving fancy maneuvers to others.

“I’m very confident in my ability but it depends on what they’re looking for,” Sandberg said. “If they are looking for tricks, then they’re not looking for me.

“I try to enhance the wave for all it’s worth and all I’m worth. I’m more after the feeling of the wave.”

Sandberg talks about the sport with a philosophical air. Treading water for 15 years waiting for the perfect wave has given him a lot of time to think.

“A surfer will enhance the wave his way and I will enhance it my way,” he said. “The wave is everything to me. I’m going to get the most out of it and it’s going to get the most out of me.”

Sandberg is an old man in a sport that existed long before the triple-fin thruster surfboards and boogie boards that now dominate the shoreline.

“Over the years the number of bodysurfers has dwindled drastically,” he said. “Most of the bodysurfers I see are older. The kids’ sport is boogie boarding. I’d feel like a high-tech weenie, there’s no struggle to it.”

While the 1980 graduate of Cal State Northridge has bodysurfed all along the Southern California coast, he prefers Huntington Beach because the expansive Orange County beach often has challenging 6- to 8-foot waves.

He’s also braved treacherous bodysurfing beaches such as Zuma and the Wedge, south of Newport Beach, which Sandberg considers for experts only. The Wedge is well-known to surfers and infamous for 10-foot waves crashing into a shallow, foot-deep shoreline.

“If you want to see bodysurfers, the best in the world are at the Wedge,” Sandberg said. “And they’re all crazy.”

Aside from jellyfish stings and bumps from collisions with errant surfboards, Sandberg has never been hurt because, he says, “I have a healthy respect for the ocean.”

His friend and bodysurfing partner is Ron Chapman, whom he met at Dodger Stadium where both work as ushers. Chapman, 37, of Huntington Beach, is Sandberg’s bodysurfing mentor and a 25-year veteran of the sport.

Sandberg and Chapman know men who’ve suffered broken necks bodysurfing. To minimize the risks, they rarely hit the water alone.

“To me, it’s important to have someone out there, especially Jim,” said Chapman, who echoes Sandberg’s transcendental view of bodysurfing. “We’re really close friends and it’s just fun to go out and pass the time. Then if a great wave comes we both catch it.

“It’s a real feeling of exhilaration that I can’t describe,” Chapman said.