Sir, - In response to Kevin Barry's article (Summer Times, August 7th) on bodyboarding (not boogieboarding), there are several points which I feel it is necessary to clear up.
Firstly, bodyboarding was invented by Tom Morey in 1972 in Hawaii, not California. Secondly, while not as difficult to master as surfing (the stuff of aftershave advertisements) the three quick and easy steps as outlined in the article are both insulting to those who bodyboard regularly and somewhat removed from the truth, as it takes some time to learn how to surf a wave properly. Besides which, bodyboarding is a recognised professional sport, has its own World Tour and is currently under consideration for inclusion in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
While I do agree that it is a lot of fun and relatively easy to surf a bodyboard, muggy head or no, perhaps more of a professional attitude could have been adopted in researching and writing on the sport. After all, is the noble profession of journalism learnt in three easy steps? - Yours, etc.,
Ronan Murray,
Stepaside, Co Dublin.