Rich Loughridge loves the ocean. The Ocean Beach resident can look to the sea from his hilltop home and frequently takes the short trip down to the 24-hour swimming zone near the Avalanche jetty to hit the waves. Although he enjoys surfboarding, Loughridge said he has a real passion for bodysurfing. “It’s the purest form of wave riding,” Loughridge said. “It’s a great workout for your whole body.” Loughridge, 47, who works in the cable TV management business, put his bodysurfing skills to the test recently in the Chubascos Body Surfing Contest held at Huntington Beach and won the Senior Men’s 40 & Up Division. Then he surprised himself by taking out the Grand Champion trophy after claiming victory over a heat of other division winners. He received an artistic sculpture of a bodysurfer riding a barreling wave for his efforts and was stoked at his performance. “I was up against every age group, including 17- to 25-year-old guys and girls who were swimming circles around me, but I picked quality waves and pulled it out,” Loughridge said. Loughridge competes for fun and camaraderie with a small group of hardcore bodysurfers up and down the coast, but he has enjoyed the thrill since his youth. “I started when I was 9 years old and bodysurfed the Wedge in Newport Beach, which can get pretty big and challenging, until I was around 17,” Loughridge said. The Wedge is a notorious surf break which refracts ocean swells off the north-end jetty of the Newport Harbor entrance into much bigger, thicker waves that explode in shallow waters close to shore. Brave bodysurfers have tackled these crushing tubes for decades now, and it draws large beachside crowds to watch the punishing rides. During the recent big swell in July that hammered the Southern California coast, the Wedge produced 15-foot grinding monsters that tragically swept one bodysurfer to his death on the jetty rocks. These days, Loughridge gets up at 5:30 a.m. three days a week and swims laps at his local YMCA pool. “The key to competing is swimming,” Loughridge said. “I also hit the ocean daily, even in the winter. I’m an animal. “There are a number of us that go out, like the O.B. Lugnuts, a group of around 15 that enjoy bodysurfing locally. O.B is my training grounds,” he said. Those unfamiliar with bodysurfing might consider it a difficult sport to judge in a competitive nature. “I can understand that, especially since it is mostly our heads that are visible in the wave,” Loughridge laughed. Judges look for length of ride, the type of takeoff, spinning moves and other factors. “I use a butterfly stroke to elevate and launch into a takeoff on a wave,” Loughridge said. “There are different techniques like the underwater dolphin takeoff to help your performance. Plus, I use Victory Wetsuits’ rash guards and special order, seven-inch Viper swim fins for more control.” Like any sport, there are certain individuals who stand out in the bodysurfing world of competition. “Tim and Pat Casinelli, Chris Lafferty from La Jolla, Mike Cunningham, John ‘The Claw’ Shearer from Hermosa Beach and Sue Scatolini from Ocean Beach are a few of the best,” said Loughridge. Being a total waterman, Loughridge respects their skills. “I have a trailer in Baja and ride a surfboard down there, but bodysurfing is twice the workout,” he said. “It can beat the crap out of you.” On the weekend of Aug. 22-23, Loughridge entered the 33rd World Bodysurfing Championships held at the Oceanside Pier. “The granddaddy of bodysurfing competitions,” as Loughridge put it, with 270 others who competed in different age groups, ranging in age from 12 to 80. Among those competing was former San Diego Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard, who has won the 65 & Over Men’s Division several times. “It was four- to six-foot (waves) with a current that was pulling guys into the pier,” Loughridge said. “I did well on Saturday, but overcalculated and got bumped in the semi-finals on Sunday.” Not a problem for Loughridge, though. There is another contest in Santa Cruz at the end of September, along with bodysurfing meets held at Manhattan Beach, San Clemente, Ixtapa, Mexico and at the Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore in Hawaii throughout the year. “The competition is fun,” said Loughridge, “but I just do it to keep motivated, stay healthy and have a good time in the water. Bodysurfing is just a great activity.”