Madeleine Marr
Miami Herald
A fun challenge for young athletes took a terrifying turn on Saturday during the Gnarly Charley Surf Contest in Satellite Beach, Florida.
According to video posted to YouTube set to ominous music, a participant is seen surfing about 100 feet off shore when people start yelling for him to get out.
“Come in! Come in!” bystanders yell from the shore as a horn blares.
“There’s a shark! We’re taking a quick timeout!” a woman yells to other kids in the tournament for ages 6 to 14.
A man merely utters, “He’s big.”
The young man calmly paddles in, waving, then looking behind him. At one point, he surfs a large wave and the shark is right there, too, just a few feet away.
“He was right in that wave with him!” a man screams.
A man pulls the boy to the beach safely. Despite the frightening experience, he reportedly came in first in the Under 11 division.
“A black tip or bull shark came through the lineup,” event organizer Charley Hajek told the Miami Herald. “The kids all did a great job getting to the beach. So proud of them. I tell them to always respect the ocean.”
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