SHELBY CO., Ky. (LEX 18) — A Kentucky man took his stone skipping skill to an international setting this September, bringing a piece of history – and a record – back to the Bluegrass.
“When people hear I'm a professional stone skipper, there's like one of two responses I always get,” Jon Jennings, champion stone skipper said. “Either people are like, ‘whoa, that's so cool, I never knew that was a thing,’ or they're like, ‘I bet I could skip further than you.’”
The activity has been a cornerstone for Jennings since he was little.
“I spent most of my days just playing in the creek, throwing rocks in the water and I can't remember ever not being able to skip a stone,” Jennings said. “My uncle, when I was younger, he was like, ‘Jon, you got a gift in stone skipping.’ He was like, ‘there's competitions out there, you need to find those competitions because you are going to win.’”
Once Jennings found those competitions, the trophies were – literally – just a stone’s throw away.
“I currently am the reigning Great Southern Stone Skipping Champion, and also the World Stone Skimming champion as well,” Jennings said.
The world championship is the most recent addition to Jennings’ trophy case. He took the title on Sept. 6 at Easdale Island in Scotland.
“I’m the first American to ever win the world championship,” Jennings said of the event, which has been happening annually since 1997. “Not only did I end up winning it, but my official cumulative score ended up being 177 meters, which is the record for that contest as well now.”
With the new record – and new hardware – Jennings hopes to keep growing the stone skipping scene back here in Kentucky.
“People will send me fliers and so I'll post them on our social media and try to just get the word out about competitive stone skipping,” he said.
Jennings helped create the Kentucky Stone Skipping Invitational. Coming up in a few weeks, he’s also leading the charge in the Kentucky Waterways Alliance Stone Skipping Competition coming up on Sept. 27. You can find out more about the event on Facebook.
