Lyndsey "Lyn-Z" Adams Hawkins (born September 21, 1989) is an American professional
skateboarder
Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...
.
History and family
Born in San Diego, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins was raised in
Cardiff-by-the-Sea,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and spent part of her childhood in
Sayulita
Sayulita is a small town in Mexico along the Pacific Ocean at the south end of the state of Nayarit and north of Banderas Bay. It has a population of approximately 2,300 inhabitants.
Name
Don Lauro González Guerra, born on June 2, 1887, s ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, just outside
Puerto Vallarta. An athletic child, Hawkins started
surfing and skateboarding at age 6. She got into skateboarding when her brother Tyler bought her a membership at the
Encinitas
Encinitas (Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and about south o ...
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...
. She also played
soccer,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
, and
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
.
Her legal name is Lyndsey, and Adams is her middle name. She started using the nickname Lyn-Z in the 4th grade.
Hawkins often customizes the griptape on her skateboards. Many bear the letters
RIP, in memory of her father, who died in December 2003.
On June 4, 2011, Hawkins became engaged to
Travis Pastrana
Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, a ...
, who stopped the show at the
Nitro Circus Live
''Nitro Circus Live'' (also known as ''Nitro Circus Live: World Tour'' in the final three seasons) is a reality television show. It follows Travis Pastrana and the Nitro Circus crew as they perform live on tour around the world.
Cast
;Travis Pas ...
World Tour in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, got on one knee, and proposed. The two married on October 29, 2011, near Hawkins' southern California home.
On February 26, 2013, Hawkins and Pastrana announced on their social network webpages that they were expecting their first child due in September 2013. Hawkins gave birth to a girl named Addy Ruth on Labor Day, September 2, 2013. On August 5, 2014, she announced that she and Pastrana were expecting their second child; a girl named Bristol Murphy was born on February 9, 2015.
Skateboarding
Hawkins is at the forefront of a very small group of professional female skaters. She is also one of a few skaters to skate the DC
Mega Ramp A mega ramp, or megaramp, is the informal name given to ''any'' large-format vert ramp structure, often used in skateboarding and freestyle BMX. The name distinguishes a second generation of ramps which became increasingly popular during the 1 ...
, and the first female skater to do so.
Due to a broken arm in 2005, and a torn ACL (resulting in surgery) in 2006, Lyn-Z has missed out on many competitions. In lieu of participating, she was the on-camera host for the girls competition at the
West 49
West 49 Inc., is a Canadian specialty retailer of fashion and apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment related to the action sports lifestyle. The company was founded in 1987 as Jumbo Entertainment, Inc. to manage the Jumbo Video franchis ...
Canadian Open in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...
in September 2006.
In 2007, Hawkins returned to competition, and won the gold medal in the Women's Vert competition at
X Games 13 in Los Angeles. In 2008, she placed second in the same competition, and in 2009 she returned to win another gold medal in 1st place, also in the Women's Vert competition.
Major sponsors include
Volcom
Volcom is a lifestyle brand that designs, markets, and distributes boardsports-oriented products. Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, U.S. The brand is known for its trademark ''stone'' logo, its slogan ''True to This'', and the ' ...
, Nixon Watches, Birdhouse Skateboards, Oakley eyewear, Type-S wheels, S-one helmets, and K-five Boardshop.
In 2008, Hawkins appeared on the cover of
Concrete Wave Magazine
''Concrete Wave Magazine'' is a Canadian publication which was founded in 2002 by Michael Brooke. It was a continuation of Brooke's involvement with skateboard publishing. In 1999, Brooke had also his book ''The Concrete Wave (the history of skate ...
's annual Skateboard Directory.
On November 21, 2009, Hawkins became the first female to land a 540
McTwist
Aerials (or more commonly airs) are a type of skateboarding Skateboarding trick, trick usually performed on half-pipes, pools or quarter pipes where there is a vertical wall with a transition (curved surface linking wall and ground) available. A ...
during the "Quiksilver Tony Hawk Show" in
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
.
Snowboarding
While focused mainly on skateboarding, Hawkins is also an avid snowboarder. She has recently begun entering snowboarding competitions. In 2007, her year-end National ranking was 23rd in Slopestyle and 9th in Halfpipe.
Video games
Hawkins made her video game debut in ''
Tony Hawk's Project 8
''Tony Hawk's Project 8'' is a skateboarding video game and the eighth installment in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in November 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, an ...
'', becoming the second female playable skater in the ''Tony Hawk'' games after
Elissa Steamer
Elissa Steamer (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder.
Early life
Steamer was born in Fort Myers, Florida, United States, and began skateboarding in 1989. Steamer frequented a small city owned skate park on Grand Avenue.
...
. She later appeared in ''
Tony Hawk: Ride'', ''
Tony Hawk: Shred'', and ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD'' is a skateboarding video game in the ''Tony Hawk's (series), Tony Hawk's'' series. Developed by Robomodo and published by Activision, ''Pro Skater HD'' is a high-definition remake of classic levels from ''Tony Hawk' ...
''.
Sponsors
*
Etnies
Etnies (stylized as etnies) is a footwear brand based in Lake Forest, California, United States, and is owned by Sole Technology, Inc. As of 2013, the company sponsors professional skateboarders and BMX riders, LAB more and releases signature s ...
*
Nixon Watches
Nixon is an American watches, accessories and audio brand, founded in 1997 in Encinitas, California, United States. Focused on the youth lifestyle market. Currently sold in 80 countries worldwide, Nixon maintains stand-alone retail stores in Be ...
*
Birdhouse Skateboards
Birdhouse Skateboards (originally Birdhouse Projects) is a skateboard company formed by ex-Powell Peralta professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Per Welinder in 1992.
Birdhouse makes decks and wheels, as well as clothing and accessories.
...
*Type S Wheels
*k-5 Boardshop
*Kicker
*
Volcom
Volcom is a lifestyle brand that designs, markets, and distributes boardsports-oriented products. Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, U.S. The brand is known for its trademark ''stone'' logo, its slogan ''True to This'', and the ' ...
*Ethika
Skateboard videos
Hawkins is featured on a number of skate DVDs including ''
Getting Nowhere Fasterand the Groms series of DVD
which highlight some of the top
Grommet (sportsperson), Grommets in various Extreme Sports.
Major contest results
https://web.archive.org/web/20070123001530/http://www.lyn-zadams.com
References
External links
Official websiteEXPN Profile*
Lyn-z Adams Hawkins skating the mega-rampLyn-Z S.P.O.T profileTheSideProject.com Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Lyn-Z Adams
American skateboarders
Female skateboarders
Living people
1989 births
American female snowboarders
X Games athletes
People from Encinitas, California
Sportspeople from San Diego
21st-century American women