Latest news with #wavepool
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Girl who died in Hersheypark wavepool named as nine year-old Sophia Subedi
A nine year-old girl who died in a busy wave pool at the Hersheypark water park has been named as Sophia Subedi. Sophia was pulled unresponsive from the waters of the busy attraction in Hersey, Pennsylvania, last Thursday and could not be revived. It is still unclear how she died with autopsy results not yet released. An online tribute to Sophia said: 'A bright, kind, and loving young girl, Sophia, brought joy and light to everyone who knew her. Her sudden loss has left our entire community in grief.' Developing story, check back for updates...
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Little girl, 9, who was 'light of our lives' dies after freak tragedy in Hersheypark wave pool
The 9-year-old child who died after being pulled from the wave pool at Pennsylvania 's Hersheypark has been identified as a young girl from Harrisburg. While her name has not been released publicly, 'out of respect for the family,' community leaders have confirmed she was a beloved member of the local Bhutanese population. The young girl was 'in distress' in the wave pool before she died, authorities said. 'Our hearts break for this child and the child's family. We extend our deepest condolences for their loss. Out of respect for their privacy, we will not release any personal details at this time,' a statement from CEO of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company, John Lawn, said. The iconic theme park released a statement of its own on Saturday, commending the lifesaving efforts of park staff and extending condolences to the grieving family. 'We can confirm that the incident occurred at the wave pool within The Boardwalk at Hersheypark. The wave pool will remain closed today out of respect for the family and deep appreciation of our team members who worked so valiantly in their efforts to save the life of the guest,' an updated statement from Hersheypark reads. Hersheypark said there were over 100 trained lifeguards at the park at the time of the tragic incident, including '10 lifeguards specifically dedicated to the wave pool' attraction. 'There were over 100 E&A-trained lifeguards in the Boardwalk at the time of the incident. There were 10 lifeguards specifically dedicated to the wave pool at the time of the incident. 'The specific lifeguards stationed at the wave pool received the highest level of training and certification from E&A, known as Special Facility Training, which includes deep-water lifeguarding, Basic Life Support, AED use, supplemental oxygen support, CPR, and First Aid. Additionally, as part of Hersheypark's commitment to water safety, complimentary life vests are also available to all of our guests,' the park said. Now, the young girl - described as 'full of promise, innocence, and joy' - is being remembered by members of her local community. 'At just nine years old, she was full of promise, innocence, and joy – a light in the lives of all who knew her,' Tilak Niroula, chairman of the Board for the Bhutanese Community in Harrisburg, announced on the group's Facebook page. 'Her sudden and tragic departure has left a deep void in our hearts and in the community she was so warmly a part of. Our entire community is grieving alongside the family during this unimaginably difficult time,' he continued. The young girl - described as 'full of promise, innocence, and joy' - is being remembered by members of her local community 'Words cannot fully capture the depth of our pain, but we are united in our mourning and committed to standing with the family in love, prayer and support.' The girl had been visiting The Boardwalk at Hersheypark on Thursday, July 24, when she became 'in distress' in the water, according to a statement from the park's parent company CEO. 'From the moment our lifeguard team recognized that a child was in distress, they performed an immediate rescue, followed by continuous, coordinated life-saving efforts by our lifeguards, on-site first responders and medical personnel,' Lawn said. After park staff performed life-saving measures, the young girl was taken to Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. However, it remains unclear at this time how the child died. The Derry Township Police Department and the Dauphin County Coroner's Office said they are continuing their investigation into the incident, as park officials say they will 'fully cooperate' and even 'conduct an internal review' of their own. 'The Derry Township Police Department is assisting Hersheypark and the Dauphin County Coroner's Office with their review into the death of a 9-year-old child at The Boardwalk at Hersheypark on the evening of July 24, 2025. 'We are still on the early stages of this process, and we are working to gather all of the facts in the incident. 'Our thoughts and our hearts are with the family and friends of this young life, lost too soon,' the Derry Township Police Department said. The 9-year-old girl's death marks the first fatality at the park since 1977. The Boardwalk area of the park features 16 water attractions, including a 378,000-gallon wave pool called 'The Shore,' which reaches a depth of six feet.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
9-Year-Old Girl Dies in Wave Pool at Hersheypark in Pennsylvania
A 9-year-old girl died on Thursday night while using a wave pool at Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, where lifeguards tried rescuing her after seeing her in distress, park officials said. It was not clear whether the girl, whom the authorities did not name, had drowned or had experienced another issue. The wave pool, which is known as The Shore and holds 378,000 gallons of water, remained closed on Friday. It gradually deepens from zero to six feet, according to the amusement park's website. John K. Lawn, the chief executive of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, said in a statement on Thursday night that safety was the park's top priority. 'Our hearts break for this child and the child's family,' Mr. Lawn said. 'In the coming days, we will conduct a thorough internal review and cooperate fully with the authorities.' A person who was visiting the park at the time told the television station WGAL in Pennsylvania that they saw lifeguards performing CPR on the girl to no avail. The park said that the girl was rushed to Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., but could not be saved. The police department in Derry Township, Pa., which Hershey is part of, said in a statement on Friday that it was assisting the amusement park and the Dauphin County Coroner's Office with a review of the girl's death. The coroner's office and county did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. David Sassaman, a spokesman for the Hershey Volunteer Fire Department, said that the agency was briefly dispatched for a medical assistance call to the park on Thursday night, but that request was canceled. Hersheypark, the largest amusement park in Pennsylvania, has its own team of emergency medical technicians. Park officials said on Friday that at the time that the girl died, more than 100 trained lifeguards were on duty in the water park, which is called The Boardwalk and is included with amusement park admission. Ten of them were stationed at the wave pool, according to the park, which said that those lifeguards are trained in deepwater lifeguarding, basic life support, automated external defibrillator, or A.E.D. use, supplemental oxygen support, CPR and first aid. The park also said that complimentary life vests are available to all guests. It did not say whether the girl was wearing a life vest.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
One-Handed Backflip: Best Wave Pool Air Ever?
Before most people could buzz from their morning coffee, 18-year-old Hughie Vaughan was bouncing off the walls. Yesterday, the 18-year-old Australian, fresh off winning Stab High Japan and entering the 2025 Swatch Nines at the 11th hour, paddled out for the first session of the day and landed one of the most inverted, off-axis airs ever seen in Waco's famed wave pool. Hughie greased a one-handed stalefish backflip — with no straps or winch pull — right in front of slack-jawed filmers. When the clip circulated on social media, plenty of heavyweights chimed in on Hughie's accomplishment. From Mick Fanning to Julian Wilson to Mateus Herdy to Paul Fisher, they were all stunned. "There's a new standard," Julian Wilson said. "That was unbelievable." A few hours later, while eating banana cream pie before his last session of the day, the grom got another surprise as he scrolled through his phone. 'No way,' Hughie exclaimed. 'Tony Hawk just followed me.' The living skate legend dubbed Hughie's move 'The Stale Fish Flipper' and instantly gave the young surfer major kudos. This is the kind of cross-pollination Swatch Nines strives for. It's a surf, skate and BMX playground where ideas are shared, attempted and lauded. The unexpected is celebrated, and Hughie's rotation is already being hailed as arguably the best air ever done in a wave pool. Certainly, Jacob Szekely, Matt Meola and Mikey Wright could add their names to the hat, but a one-handed backflip without straps or a winch? That has to take the cake. '(Hughie) didn't even know what he did today,' Chippa Wilson said. 'He didn't know he just did the best air ever done in a wave pool.' Due to the format of the event, things like Hughie's wave can go down at any moment. In removing the constraints of competition like heats and scores, organizers created a caldron of creativity. Head to the bathroom and you're liable to miss an air. Grab a sandwich and you won't see the boardslide. But you'll hear the cheers. You can watch for a while, see nothing land, but then the remarkable happens when you glance away. 'It's wild—there's nothing else like it,' said BMX star Kevin Peraza, fresh off his recent X Games bronze medal in Tokyo. 'You've got creativity, and a bunch of different athletes feeding off each other—it's non-stop.' Hughie's air has been the most impactful move from Swatch Nines Surf thus far, but plenty of highlights have gone down over the last two days: A 200-ton crane hoisting an illuminated 8-foot aluminum ring, surfers flying through (and crashing into) said ring, boardslides on floating rails, winch-whipped full rotations and a barrage of technical airs. In the last light day two, Robbie "Rasta Rob" McCormick stomped a huge backside 540 off the winch on the left, and a few minutes later, Jacob Szekely landed a lofty tail-high 360 (sans winch) with a burned finger he sustained while holding a flare on an earlier attempt. Gotta pay to play, they say. One of the biggest changes between last year's inaugural event and this year's edition is the enormous floating skate ramp and rails suspended by the crane. Surfers have three rails to choose from: a straight rail, a kink rail and an arched wallriding feature. And after just a few sessions, things are already clicking. Mason Ho, Noah Beschen and Zeke had several clean attempts on the left. Cam Richards, battling bruised knees and bloody shins, has also been a standout. He's glided across the kink rail numerous times and completed a clean fakie boardslide over the wallride, a move so sweet that Nines founder Nico Zacek ran the length of the pool to embrace him. If nothing else, the Nines challenge surfers. It makes them put into practice things that normally only exist in a deep, dark corner of their brains. Even for creatives and technical maestros like Mason and Chippa, who have seen and done much in their careers, Waco offers something different. 'I've loved trying wallrides or any sort of boardslides in surfing,' Mason said. 'I've loved it just because I'm a little crazy and there's rocks or something in the way. It's so fun to tear a wave apart, but now it's like, I'm in the water, then out of the water. It's all about the combo. 'Last year, they had the rail and the hamster ball, and it was one of the funnest events I've been a part of," he continued. "This year is even more special and it feels like just the beginning. Last year, we used this tractor for the rail. And it was at the very end of the wave. Now, we've asked them to move it to the middle and gone way bigger with the crane. They've gone to the next level and it's like a dream come true.' 'I've never done pool rails, but I did skate a lot when I was a kid,' Chippa said. 'And this was the closest feeling to hitting your first rail as a kid. It's crazy. A front boardslide feels so sick. So when I first hit this setup, I was so fired up. I almost stuck it and I just needed to go again.' Call it novel, experimental, random or radical. Stuff is happening at Swatch Nines. One-Handed Backflip: Best Wave Pool Air Ever? first appeared on Surfer on Jun 25, 2025
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The Wave reopens to surfers with Boardmasters founder in charge after financial dispute
Ground-breaking British inland surfing centre The Wave reopened on Tuesday after abruptly closing last week. The wave pool surf complex, near Bristol, reopened at 6.30am on Tuesday morning, with all sessions due to run as scheduled. The sudden closure came amid a financial dispute, where its majority former owners Sullivan Street Partners claimed the site had been grabbed at a low value. But The Wave's founder, Nick Hounsfield, who had resigned from the board in late April, posted a video on Instagram and Facebook yesterday backing the new owners and calling on surfers to get behind them. The Wave Group has, according to its website, been acquired as a part of a 'financial restructure' by a group of investors who asked Surfing England chairman Julian Topham to step into the role of chief executive. Topham, who founded and runs the Boardmasters festival, said there would be a 'short period of transition' as the firm changes hands. When The Wave opened under Hounsfield in 2019, it was at the forefront of the emergence of wave pools offering world-class surfing on mechanically generated waves to the public. The Wave's website is up and running but no new bookings can be made by customers. The firm said it will 'get in touch' with people who had their bookings cancelled last week 'as soon as we possibly can.' Topham asked for patience while a new team get together to fully reopen The Wave and restart online bookings. He said in a statement online: 'We appreciate there has been huge uncertainty in the last week, for so many people, especially our wonderful Wavemaker staff, customers, and partners, so a big thank you for your understanding.' He added: 'There will be a short period of transition as a company changes hands and we get up to speed, but we are doing everything we can to make this as smooth and as fast as possible, and get The Wave open again.' In a video on social media from the Bristol site, The Wave's founder, Nick Hounsfield said Topham had 'high ethics and is an exceptional leader.' In his Instagram post, Hounsfield said: 'Just reflecting upon the last couple of days. It's been a storm. The Wave has so much of my heart and soul in it and it's been so distressing to see something close to me go through so much turmoil. 'I've just come in to The Wave to check in on the team. They are working hard to get The Wave open ASAP. As ever, they have stepped up to the task and there is a lot of positivity and excitement. A lot to do… but working hard. 'I've had a chance to catch up with the new CEO Julian Topham and his team. He has been asked to step in as CEO to get The Wave back to where it deserves to be, the heart of a vibrant and inclusive surf community and a force for good. 'I've known Julian for over 15 years. He has high ethics, is an exceptional leader and operator, and has enormous respect both in the surf community and in building epic events across the UK. He also recently took over from me as Chairman of Surfing England. 'I ask everybody who loves The Wave to really get behind Julian and his team as they look to get The Wave back to where it deserves to be. It feels like a fresh start.' Allegations from former majority owner Last week, former owners of The Wave alleged that the business, under the entity Surf Bristol Limited, was sold on the cheap. In a statement, former majority owners Sullivan Street Partners claimed the Bristol-based enterprise was 'sold by Administrator BTG' on 27 June, having been placed into a technical insolvency the previous day. Sullivan Street Partners alleged: 'A previous minority shareholder and individuals associated with the shareholder chose to pursue financial returns, significantly acting out of step with their moral fiduciary duties.' Elsewhere in the statement, Sullivan Street Partners claimed the process had been undertaken with the objective of 'grabbing the business at an undervalue and prejudicing other creditors in the process.' The statement also alleged that certain assets had been 'appropriated illegally with systems being hacked and frozen.' Sullivan Street Partners claimed that The Wave Group had 'simultaneously been the victim of a cyber attack with all data having been stolen.' The former majority owners noted that it was not clear whether the 'cyber attack' was connected to the other 'assaults on the company.' Sullivan Street Partners said that until 5.55pm on 27 June, The Wave Group had been preparing to open on 28 June, but that this had became 'impossible.' The statement added that The Wave Group still planned to open a new surf complex in London in 2027 and 'has several other opportunities under development.' Sullivan Street Partners said they were 'sorry for the upset the actions of others have caused.' An earlier statement from Sullivan Street Partners this week, said The Wave Group had 'lined up a refinancing alongside its exciting London developments, which would see all creditors repaid in full within a week and is offering to continue to operate the park.' This is Money contacted administrators at BTG for comment. What happened at The Wave? Last week, The Wave, abruptly closed. The closure came with no warning, with surfers and users of the site booked in arriving to closed doors and an apology written on a sign. Highlighting how suddenly the saga deteriorated, on Wednesday The Wave was posting on social media about an upcoming surf festival being held at the centre next month. The Wave opened in 2019 and cost £26million to build. The unique complex could generate up to 1,000 waves per hour. Since opening, the site provided surfing facilities for all abilities, catering for disabled visitors, total beginners and veteran surfers. The Wave's power supply stems from solar and battery storage and since 2019 the complex has welcomed 400,000 people. The Wave was brainchild of Hounsfield, a British entrepreneur who wanted to build a unique business that had a positive social impact. Hounsfield did not come from a background in property or business, but was an osteopath, who said he started with £500 in his bank account and managed to raise the money to build his dream. Since 5 May, The Wave's founder, Hounsfield, has not been a director of the business.
