Lawson kickflips it to the top

River Lawson has his eyes on making a future in the sport of skating. Photos: NATHAN RIVALLAND

TORQUAY skating extraordinaire River Lawson has again emerged victorious on the national stage, winning the U/16 Australian Championships.

During the school holidays, Lawson competed in Mackay, Queensland in the last leg of the Rumble AM Series.

The 14-year-old showed no signs of any nerves against skaters’ years his superior by outrightly winning his junior age group with some slick street manoeuvres and placing sixth in the Men’s Open.

His win marked back-to-back victories in the juniors, having won the U/13 Rumble AM Series title in 2023.

The 14-year-old has won back-to-back national junior titles at the Rumble AM Series.

He said he was absolutely stoked with the result.

“I was super surprised to get the win, particularly after jumping up to U/16’s.

“It was a really exciting year of competing. I know most of the other guys competing. We all push each other and have lots of fun.

“It made me proud to skate well against some of the older kids and get the win overall.”

Lawson grinding the rail at the Torquay skate park.

Lawson said his hope was to make it into the elite national pathway and get into the OIympics one day.

“I also just want to score better in the Open division. Heaps of the people are way older, but I’d like to continue to do a bit better.

“I want to push my manoeuvres, get my kickflip to rail tricks a bit better.

“Going overseas and competing against skaters from all over the world would be amazing too.”

Lawson will kick off his pursuit of a three-peat of national titles at the first round of the 2025 Rumble AM Series in South Australia in January next year.