SUMMER WATER JUMP 2012, Madeira Island

We live in Madeira Island, Portugal, and at the moment we are facing an era of financial crisis, debt, sadness, stress and so on. It's also true that we are one of the most affected countries and as if that wasn't enough, we also have our internal problems that make Portuguese people suffer just to survive.

The mountain bike community is sick of watching Portuguese news full of depressing and boring economic stuff that no one understands. We are tired of people saying: 'That's not going to work'.

That is mainly why we started the 'SUMMER WATER JUMP' event, just to show that with a few funds we can create a unique event, help the local economy of Paul do Mar and have fun !


Nothing is impossible, that's for sure.


The event was created by António Abreu from MADproductions and Roberto Chaves from Freeride Madeira. It all started in a sunny afternoon in Madeira Island, during a 'coffee break' conversation. We talked about the ramp, the riders, the judges, but in the end it took more that one month to put everything together.


We had some difficulties with the Portuguese authorities, but after some meetings it all became possible and real. It's the first event we ever made, and for sure, it's something unique in Portugal.



Soon enough we had lots of sponsors and prizes. We also didn't expect a lot of people during the event, so it was a surprise when we saw ourselves surrounded by such a huge crowd ! Music, judges, prizes, giveaways, great tricks and loads of fun ! Is there anything better ?



We had to show the event to the sponsors, and here is how we did it. We had a lot of fun producing the PROMO: SUMMER WATER JUMP 2012 with Hugo 'Xinela' Freitas. By the way, awesome actor skills.


We had 31 brave guys jumping all afternoon on Saturday, September 15. We had some categories, such as: 'Best Trick', 'Best Crash', 'Big Air Jump', 'Best Entertainer' and 'SWJ Champions'. It was a hard-fought match till the end with some close results.



Cristiano 'Crista' Conceição was the 'SWJ Champion', followed by André Sousa and Emanuel Nóbrega. The 'Best Trick' was won by Pedro 'Pulga' Silva and the 'Big Air Jump' won by Dino Rodrigues. We could never forget the 'Best Crash' won by Thiago Cruz and the entertainer award went to Hugo 'Xinela' Freitas.


We are starting to prepare the event for the next year, and we want to make it even bigger. We have to thank all the crew that helped us make this dream come true - Ruben Caetano, Hugo 'Xinela' Freitas, Pedro Sousa, Igor Gurgel, Carlos Gouveia, Filipe Sousa, Guilherme Mimoso, Andrew Talas, Patrick Talas, Cristiano Conceição and many others.


Event: www.summerwaterjump.com, by MADproductions and Freeride Madeira
Photos: Igor Gurgel, Pedro Sousa, Carlos Gouveia, Robert Erens
Text: Antonio Abreu and Laura Machado
Editing: Antonio Abreu