Video: Skateboarders scouring DC for undiscovered pools
- Text by Alex King
“We’re finding treasures, concrete treasures man, forgotten midcentury relics,” Anthony explains.
After struggling for years to find good pools to skate in the Washington, DC area, Anthony and his friends got organised. They began using satellite photography to search for undiscovered pools and established themselves as DC Drain and Clean (DCDC) – profiled here in this beautifully shot doc from Run Riot.
After tracking down potential targets, they make a deal with property owners to clean the garden, repair a broken down shed or cut the grass in return for permission to drain the pool and skating rights over the neglected concrete paradise.
“If you wanna skate it, you’re gonna have to get really dirty and work really hard to get it clean to have that opportunity,” Anthony explains.
It can be back-breaking work, but it’s all worth it just to hear the unmistakable screeching sound of polyurethane on concrete for the first time.
“We just love pool skating and there’s no getting that out of our system,” reflects Anthony.
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