“Skipping stones” feels like an activity that it would be very difficult to do ILLEGALLY, so if there was a “cheating scandal” at a stone-skipping competition, you might assume they meant ADULTERY. (???)
The World Stone Skimming Championships were recently rocked by a cheating scandal, after some competitors were found to be using “suspiciously circular” stones.
If you know anything about skipping stones, or “stone skimming”, you’d know that one of the tricks is finding a nice, flat, round stone.
According to the competition’s rules, stones must come from naturally-occurring island slate and fit through a device called the “ring of truth” to ensure they are the right size: No bigger than three inches in diameter.
The championships organizer said that when the offenders were caught, they “held their hands up” and ultimately apologized. They were disqualified.
He said, “There was a little bit of stone doctoring. They’d shaped it so that it was perfectly circular and fitted our three-inch measurer, the problem was we didn’t just notice at the time that they were suspiciously circular.”
The event was held in Scotland . . . but it was ultimately won by an American named Jonathan Jennings, who managed to skip his stones for a total of 177 meters. (In American terms, that’s more than 580 feet, or almost TWO football fields.)
The competition doesn’t involve millions in winnings. It is held annually to raise money for local causes, including several community projects and charities.
The organizers added that they will “move on to an even greater event next year,” despite this year’s cheating.
(Here are images of Jonathan Jennings’ winning toss. And here’s a video news report.)
(Dexerto)
