British designer skates Oz

A British graphic designer has today become the first person to skateboard across Australia, after reaching the end of his 5823km journey.

David Cornthwaite, 27, from Swansea in Wales, took 90 days to skate from Perth to Brisbane to raise £50 000 for three charities – The Lowe Syndrome Trust, Link Community Development and Sailability Australia.

Prior to his epic Australian journey, Cornthwaite started with a warm-up skate from John o’Groats to Land’s End in May 2006. He was the first person to skateboard the length of Britain.

Along the way in Australia, the self-employed designer cut his foot on a piece of metal and ended up with stitches and a pair of crutches.

Cornthwaite’s website, www.boardfree.co.uk, states that he took on the task when he realised the only thing he looked forward to was the skate in and out of work. He had only been skating for two weeks but coupling his oldest passion, travel, with his newest, skateboarding, seemed like the right thing to do.

The designer has now beaten the previous long-distance skateboarding record, set by Jack Smith, who travelled 4830km in 2003. As Design Week went to press, the total raised on Cornthwaite’s site stood at £15 717.61.