Fun in the sun

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- Hundreds of little dudes and dudettes, sporting homemade

T-shirts decorated with names of well-known surf cities, took to the

beach Friday morning for an oceanside Olympics.

It was Newport Elementary School’s annual surf Olympics -- a field day of

games.

“It’s all about fun,” said Steve Puppo, Newport Elementary PTA vice

president.

Although there was no actual surfing involved, the events included

bodyboard relay races, a beach ball toss, a water balloon toss, sand

hurdles and a tug of war pitting the boys against the girls.

Presiding over it all was 11-year-old Alexander Andersson, who was acting

principal for the day -- an honor his parents won for him at a school

fund-raiser. He chose Friday to be principal because he wanted to run the

Olympics, he said.

Each class chose a surfing venue -- such as the Wedge or Surf City -- to

represent in the games that took them all over their natural playground,

the beach.

“I liked just everything,” said Rebecca Slater, a third-grade student. “I

especially like the water part where I spilled the water over my head.”