MALVERN is a hotbed of stone-skimming with two men bouncing their way to success in the national championship.

Dave Sealey defended his title at the sixth annual British Stone Skimming Championship in Shropshire on Sunday, June 30. Fellow skimmer Tim Wright came third. Mr Wright, aged 32, who threw 79 metres to clinch third, told the Gazette he got into competitive stone skimming only a year ago.

“I was invited to the world championships in Scotland last year but didn’t do too well,” he said “That spurred me on to do better and I went to the Welsh Open championships in Llanwrtyd Wells in May where I briefly held the world record at 103 metres – but it was taken away from me around an hour later.”

He said he had been introduced to world champion Ron Long, who had shown him some top techniques as well as the benefits of using artificial stones.

“It’s going from strength to strength as a sport and it can be really spectacular when it works,” he said.

“We want to emphasise the fun aspect of it – it’s a sport anyone can have a go at.”

Meanwhile, Mr Sealey beat his previous record by a metre with an impressive 87 metre throw – a new record for the competition.

Last month’s event saw 142 competitors between one and 79 years old throw more than 1,000 stones in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, under the watchful eye of mascot Nessie.

Each competitor is allowed four throws and each must bounce at least three times and stay within a lane marked out by buoys.

Skims are judged on the distance thrown rather than the number of bounces.