By Patricia Bogumil
Interim editor
Waterford has now earned a mention in the new 2012 Guinness World Records 2012 edition, thanks to the kickflipping expertise of town resident Zach Kral.
Zach, a junior at Waterford High School, turned age 17 on Nov. 30 – which marks the 3-year anniversary of his first Guinness World Record, earned for the “Most Consecutive Kickflips on a Skateboard” – 1,546 – a feat he performed in Milwaukee at 4Seasons Skate Park.
In the latest Guinness edition, Zach is listed for setting the “Most Kickflips in One Minute” record – 29 – a feat performed May 15, 2010 before an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in the parking lot of Waterford High School.
Whenever a record is selected to be printed in the official annual book, Guinness always lists the city and state that the record was set in, explained Mike Gonzalez, Zach’s father.
So, for his second Guinness record attempt, Zach wanted to go for it somewhere in his hometown.
“There was so much local support for Zach when he set his first record in Milwaukee that we wanted to thank our town by getting Waterford mentioned in the Guinness Book,” he explained.
Only eight skate records are listed in Guinness this year, so Zach (and Waterford) are pretty lucky to get a mention.
For Zach’s second record try, “We looked all around town to find the best spot for Zach to attempt this record,” Gonzalez recalled.
“He needed a large, smooth area that would allow enough room for filming and the expected crowd.”
At the high school, Zach found a spot that was perfect and he successfully set a new record of 29 kickflips in 60 seconds, besting the old record of 23.
Actually, it takes almost as long to explain a kickflip as it took for Zach to set his latest record.
A kickflip is a skateboarding trick in which the boarder drags his front foot at an angle up the nose of the skateboard in order to make it flip 360 degrees along the board’s axis.
These days, Zach focuses on preparing for and competing in larger contests and spends most of his free time on his skateboard, filming for his sponsors or practicing new tricks.
A couple of trips to California are planned and possibly a spot on a new show that is coming out on MTV, “but nothing is official yet,” Zach said.
He also frequently teaches skate camps at 4Seasons to help young skaters build the confidence to progress and he hopes to have a chance to get into public speaking in the near future.
Zach said he firmly believes that anyone can accomplish any goal that they set and he wants to share that message with the younger kids.
“Focus and learning are the keys – people just need to know how to turn them,” Zach said.
“So many kids give up on their dreams or are afraid to try, and sometimes that’s because they don’t get support or they have to deal with haters,” Zach added. “That needs to change.”
New footage of Zach at the East Troy Park can be viewed online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKuLfA8EapQ A link to both Guinness world records is at www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search.aspx?q=zach+kral
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Here is a link to the video of Zach Kral winning the WI stop of the 2010 Zumiez Best Foot Forward contest, which qualified him for their national finals. The next day he broke his elbow in another contest and had to skate the rest of the summer contest series in a full arm cast, which was Waterford Green.