Editing Stone skipping (section)

==Championships==
The "Big Four" American stone skipping contests include (in order of establishment and participant rankings): 
# The Mackinac Island championship, held on July 4 in northern Michigan (entry by invite only; must win prior Mackinac Open or Pennsylvania Qualifier to enter); 
# The Pennsylvania championship, held usually the 3rd Saturday of August in [[Franklin, PA]], about one hour southeast of Erie (winners invited to the subsequent Michigan contest);
# The Vermont championship (about one month after Pennsylvania) on the shore of Lake Paran, North of Bennington; and
# The Great Southern championship in Arkansas (Labor Day weekend).

Former world champion Coleman-McGhee founded the North American Stone Skipping Association (NASSA) in 1989 in [[Driftwood, Texas]]. NASSA-sanctioned world championships were held from 1989 through 1992{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} in Wimberley, Texas. The next official NASSA World Championship is expected to be held at Platja d'en Ros beach in [[Cadaqués]], [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}.

A stone skimming championship takes place every year in [[Easdale|Easdale, Scotland]], where relative distance counts as opposed to the number of skips, as tends to be the case outside of the US.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4280078.stm|title=BBC NEWS - UK - Scotland - Scots dominate in stone skimming|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=25 September 2005 }}</ref> The event was run for more than 20 years by Donald Melville, who is seen as having done more for the sport than anyone.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/record-books-just-a-stone-s-throw-away-d3xzrll2l|title=The Times - Record books just a stone's throw away|date=18 October 2023 }}</ref> Since 1997, competitors from all over the world have taken part in the World Stone Skimming Championships (WSSC) in a disused water-filled quarry on [[Easdale Island]] using sea-worn Easdale slate of maximum 3" diameter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Active%20Sport%20Events&vxClipId=1380_SMG1204&vxBitrate=300|title=World Stone Skimming Championships 2007|publisher=www.scotlandontv.tv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023174706/http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=Active%20Sport%20Events&vxClipId=1380_SMG1204&vxBitrate=300|archive-date=2008-10-23}}</ref> Each participant gets three throws and the stone must bounce/skip at least twice to count (i.e. 3 water touches minimum).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stoneskimming.com|title=World Stone Skimming Championships, Easdale Island|publisher=www.stoneskimming.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213191524/http://www.stoneskimming.com/|archive-date=2017-12-13}}</ref> The event featured in the 2019 BBC Scotland documentary ''Sink or Skim''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melt the Fly – Sink or Skim |url=https://www.meltthefly.com/projects/sink-or-skim |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=www.meltthefly.com}}</ref> The WSSC for 2020-2022 were cancelled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] before resuming competition in September 2023.

Other domestic distance-based championships in the UK are currently the Welsh and British, but they were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 for reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic. The British is next due to be held in 2023. Japan holds competitions where both skimming and skipping principles, as well as a throw's overall aesthetic quality, are taken into account to determine the winners. At present, there is also a competition at Ermatingen in Switzerland and occasionally in the Netherlands (both skimming/distance-based).

=== Men's World Skimming Championship winners by year ===

{| class="wikitable"
|2024
|Simon Power
|[[Ireland]]
|-
|2023
|Finn Dower
|[[Belgium]] and [[Scotland]]
|-
|2022
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|''(Canceled due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]])''
|-
|2021
|-
|2020
|-
|2019
| rowspan="2" |Péter Szép
| rowspan="2" |[[Hungary]]
|-
|2018
|-
|2017
|Keisuke Hashimoto
|[[Japan]]
|-
|2016
| rowspan="4" |Dougie Isaacs
| rowspan="4" |[[Scotland]]
|-
|2015
|-
|2014
|-
|2013
|-
|2012
|Ron Long
|[[Wales]]
|-
|2011
| rowspan="2" |Dougie Isaacs
| rowspan="2" |[[Scotland]]
|-
|2010
|-
|2009
|David Gee
|[[England]]
|-
|2008
|Eric Robertson
| rowspan="2" |[[Scotland]]
|-
|2007
|Dougie Isaacs
|-
|2006
|Tony Kynn
|[[Australia]]
|-
|2005
|Dougie Isaacs
| rowspan="3" |[[Scotland]]
|-
|2004
|Andrew McKinna
|-
|2003
|Ian Brown
|-
|2002
|Alastair Judkins
|[[New Zealand]]
|-
|2001
|Iain MacGregor
|[[Australia]]
|-
|2000
|Scott Finnie
|[[Scotland]]
|-
|1999
| rowspan="2" |Ian Shellcock
| rowspan="2" |[[England]]
|-
|1998
|-
|1997
|Ian Sherriff
|[[New Zealand]]
|-
|1993
|'''Joint Champions:'''<br>David Rhys-Jones,<br>Matthew Burnham,<br>Jonathan Ford
|
|}

=== Women's World Skimming Championship winners by year ===

{| class="wikitable"
|2024
|Cari Jones
|[[Wales]]
|-
|2023
|Linsay McGeachy
|[[Scotland]]
|-
|2022
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|''(Canceled due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]])''
|-
|2021
|-
|2020
|-
|2019
|Christina Bowen-Bravery
|[[United Kingdom|UK]]
|-
|2018
|Lucy Wood
|[[England]]
|-
|2017
|Nina Luginbuhl
|[[Switzerland]]
|-
|2016
| rowspan="2" |Lucy Wood
| rowspan="2" |[[England]]
|-
|2015
|-
|2014
|Helen Mannion
|[[Scotland]]
|-
|2013
| rowspan="2" |Lucy Wood
| rowspan="2" |[[England]]
|-
|2012
|-
|2011
|Joanne Giannandrea
|[[Scotland]]
|-
|2010
|Manuela Kniebusch
|[[Germany]]
|-
|2009
|Tessa Pirie
|[[Scotland]]
|-
|2008
|Jillian Hunter
|[[Northern Ireland]]
|-
|1997
|Cara Crosby
|[[United States]]
|}