Gumbie Returns To AST Dew Tour After Fairytale 2007
E365> Skateboarding - Tuesday May 20 2008
E365 -- When a relatively unknown Baltimore local named Mathieu "Gumbie" Therres burst onto the AST Dew Tour last year at the Panasonic Open, many skaters and skate fans got their first understanding of the power and promise of the Dew Tour’s unique Open Qualifiers system.
"My good friend Rodney Jones, another Dew Tour skater, was telling me about this opportunity to skate, compete, and travel with all these pros, so I had the guys at Charm City Skatepark sign me up and I went to check it out," says Therres. "Other skaters were flying in from all over the place for the contest, but I just got to wake up out of my own bed and drive ten minutes, and it all turned out pretty good!"
While most of the top skaters on the AST Dew Tour have already pre-qualified for the tour based on their performance in the previous year, the Open Qualifier system leaves room for some surprises on the first two stops of the tour. Any pro skater can register to compete in Open Qualifiers at the Panasonic Open in Baltimore and the Right Guard Open in Cleveland. The top three skaters in the Open contests advance to Prelims, where they go head to head with the likes of 3-time champion Ryan Sheckler and try to earn their stay on the rest of the tour.
Skating in his very first pro contest, Therres finished in 3rd place at the 2007 Panasonic Open Qualifier, just barely making the cut to skate in Prelims. Then he finished in 12th place, just barely making the cut to skate in Finals, where he advanced all the way to the top-6 Finals jam to skate against his heroes Ryan Sheckler, Greg Lutzka, Carlos de Andrade, Rodolfo Ramos, and Austen Seaholm. He finished in 5th place, with the hometown crowd chanting, "Gumbie! Gumbie! Gumbie!"
"No one had ever heard of me before," says Therres. "Everybody was like, ‘Who is this kid?’ Even some of my own friends had never heard of me when the announcers were talking about ‘Mathieu Therres,’ because around here everyone just calls me Gumbie."
Therres has become something of a local legend. The 10 year-old skater who used to flail his arms around at the Charm City Skatepark and bounce back up from every slam to earn the ‘Gumbie’ nickname is all grown up now. Therres turns 22 just before the start of the 2008 tour and now skates for Baltimore-based companies Heater Skateboards and Mobtown Wheels. He also helps out any way he can at the Charm City Skatepark, where he is a team rider, frequently emcees amateur contests, and mentors younger Charm City skaters like Dakota Welty.
"I’ve lived here all my life, and I love Baltimore," says Therres. "Everything’s a little bit rough and rugged here, just the way I like it. You know? I love eating crabs. I love waking up, stopping by the skateshop, hitting the skatepark, meeting up with filmers, checking out new spots around town. I love the way the sidewalks are all torn up and everything is skateable. I love helping out with younger kids at the skatepark. You always have that one place you’ll always go back to, and Baltimore is home for me. But you have no idea how lucky I feel to be able to go out and get away from it all to travel and skate with everybody on the Dew Tour."
Therres ended up skating at every stop on the 2007 AST Dew Tour, finishing in 13th place overall. He is now pre-qualified for the 2008 tour and says he is looking forward to cheering on other Baltimore locals like David "Sketch" Rose and Dan Corrigan at the Panasonic Open Qualifiers on his home turf.
"It’s always fun to get to skate at that level where you’re pushing yourself, skating with really good people, and having fun on a skateboard," says Therres. "My goal for 2008 is to make top 5 at some of the contests and top 10 overall, and I’d love to get to where this is my full-time job, but the main thing is to have fun with it. If you’re not having fun with your skateboard, then you’re doing something wrong. Me? I’m having a whole lot of fun right now."
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