What’s up at the LSU Lakes? YOLOboarding

On a blustery October day, a motley group of shorts-sporting, Teva-toting water enthusiasts raided the banks of University Lake to compete in YOLO Board racing.

YOLO Boarding is the hot new water-sport hitting the lakes around Baton Rouge. It was co-founded by native Jeffrey Archer who honed his entrepreneurial tendencies operating a local vegetable stand. After a stint in the California clothing industry, he founded YOLO Boarding with Long Island, N.Y., native Tom Losee in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., in 2006. Archer currently lives in Florida.

The sport, whose name is an acronym for “You Only Live Once,” is a combination of surfing and canoeing. Paddlers stand on a surfboard-like boat and stab a paddle into the water. At the YOLO Board Paddle Battle at Baton Rouge Beach in October, relay teams raced toward a buoy to complete a half-mile circuit.

“It’s hard,” said racer Anne Bennett after the race. She was warming up under a blanket as inspirational strains of Coldplay wafted from a stereo system on a jambalaya-scented wind.

Winners of the race got bragging rights, and everyone went home with T-shirts and the unique experience of cruising atop University Lake. Learn more at yoloboard.com.