Shark Sends Teen Flying Into The Water During Australian Surf Ski Competition

A surf ski competition in Adelaide, Australia was canceled just seconds into the race when a teen was sent flying from his ski into the water.

The cause of the disturbance? A shark.

According to The Guardian, 19-year-old Nathaniel Drummond was competing in a surf ski race in Adelaide’s Seacliff Beach when he had a close call with a massive shark.

The shark, which is believed to have been a great white, sent Nathaniel flying out of his ski and into the water before taking a giant bite from the ski.

Jason Nejman posted about the shark encounter on Facebook, saying:

“Ok allclear to post! A superb effort by event organisers and IRB water cover and brave first responders gold stars all round – Event cancelled and a very lucky paddler v hungry shark at the Seacliff to Grange Ocean Race.”

In the comments, Jason explained that the paddler was thrown from the ski before the shark took a bite. He said that the paddler is “a bit shook up” but otherwise uninjured.

According to The Guardian, Nathaniel recalled the moment saying:

“The shark just came up and hit me from beneath. My ski just kind of lifted off the water and then next thing I knew I was in the air and I was in the water. I saw this figure just kind of fall back into the water, and it was a big shark.”

Nathaniel was only around 30 seconds into the race when the incident occurred.

Up until that point on the day of the race, there hadn’t been any shark sightings in the area and no one saw the shark following the incident. It really came out of nowhere!

It’s safe to say that Nathaniel is one lucky teen to escape unharmed from a situation that could’ve taken a turn for the worst. Instead of needing new legs, he only needs a new surf ski and there’s something great to say about that.