Tom Penny (born April 13, 1977) is a professional skateboarder from
Dorchester, England
. He
is well known in the skateboarding community for his calm style and
natural abilities and as a master of frontside flips and many
kickflip variations. He is also known as
one of the few talents to avoid the trappings of skateboarding
fame: he lived in
St. Victor,
France, for many years.
He is a role model for many kids today.He is
currently resides in Costa
Mesa
California
and also spending time in Buenos Aires
.
Career
Tom was first spotted and sponsored by Sean Goff, ex pro skater and
owner of SS20 skateshop in Oxford. He gained coverage in UK skate
magazines such as RAD, and was soon spotted by Flip Skateboards
owner Jeremy Fox, and added to the now world famous Flip
team.
Around
1993, Tom made his first International video appearance in 411vm's video Issue 2 Wheels of Fortune at the age of
15, where he was filmed skating at the Radlands Skatepark in
Northampton
, England.
In 1994
Flip Skateboards left UK shores and moved to California, the hub of world skateboarding. Along with
other team members
Geoff Rowley, Andy
Scott and
Rune Glifberg, Tom took the
skateboard world by storm. Tom is one of the original team members
of Flip, and still rides for them.
Tom ended up winning the 1995 Radlands Contest where he beat over
100 other competitors including noted U.S. pros, such as
Ray Barbee,
Ed
Templeton, Phil Shao (now deceased), and
Jamie Thomas. His winning run is regarded as
one of the best contest runs in history, and cemented his place in
the upper ranks of Pro Skateboarding.
During his time in the US, Tom had video parts in the mid 90's such
as
etnies footwear's High Five
video, Transworld Uno, Life in the Fast Lane, Balance in the World
of Chaos, and others.
In 1997, having had enough of the spotlight and pro scene, he left
California and went to Europe, keeping a low profile.
He was living in Saint
Victor, France
for many
years with his mother at their holiday home, with time also spent
in Barcelona
, Spain
. Not
much is known about him during this time, except that he got
heavily into hard drugs and lost a few steps, but he made
occasional appearances in France and Spain in the late 1990s and
thereafter.
During the early years of the new Millennium, Tom reappeared and
made his comeback in Flip Skateboards classic videos, Sorry and
Really Sorry.
Personal Life
He was also famous for putting his stamp on a series of graphics
used on skateboard decks and consequentially, t-shirts and hoodies.
Tom Penny's graphics for Flip contained numerous drug references,
while specifically extolling the virtues of psychedelic mushrooms
and smoking Opium. His Cheech and Chong, Alice and Wonderland, and
Mushroom related graphic skateboards decks and clothing were a huge
sale in the 90's, especially among younger rebellious kids who were
drawn to the memorabilia because of its controversial subject
matter.
He has a son, Nicholas, born in April 2003.
He currently divides his time between Buenos Aires, Argentina
(where he spends most of his time with his Argentinian wife),
California, England and France.
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