Every year, hundreds of people travel extensive distances to a rugged, windswept island off the west coast of Scotland for a simple, wholesome purpose: to crown a new world champion of stone skimming.
But this year’s event has been plagued by scandal: A handful of contestants cheated at the championship, organizers say, by doctoring their stones. That violates one of the few rules of the World Stone Skimming Championships, that each stone must be “naturally formed on Easdale,” the tiny car-free island with one pub and about 60 permanent residents that hosts the event.
“It only shows how keen people are to win this trophy,” said Kyle Mathews, one of the organizers and the official “Toss Master” who provides commentary during the event. “In many ways, it’s flattering.”
Mr. Mathews did not specify how many of the 400 participants had cheated, but said that it was only a few contestants. He did not share their names.
Mr. Mathews said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he had watched every single throw — more than 1,200 — during the championship, which took place on Sept. 6. “Unfortunately, these couple slipped through my hawklike vision,” he said.
Other competitors noticed that something was amiss and alerted Mr. Mathews to the potential cheating after the event, he said. (Although he said that he had heard some murmurings during the competition, too.)
When Mr. Mathews contacted the contestants in question, he said that they immediately admitted that they had cheated and accepted that they would be retroactively disqualified from this year’s competition.
“I did see some stones that looked a little too perfect,” said Jon Jennings, who won one of the tournament’s top two prizes by making his stones travel the longest distance.
Lucy Wood, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most wins of the women’s world stone-skimming championship — and who claimed her sixth title this year in Scotland — said she was impressed with how smoothly the matter was resolved.
“You wouldn’t get that in a lot of sports,” she said Tuesday.
Ms. Wood first participated in the championship on Easdale in 2011, when she accidentally stumbled upon the event while vacationing in Scotland with her husband. She finished third. “I got a bit hooked,” she said.
The competition has grown, and contestants now have to register online. Last year, there were 2,000 people vying for 400 spots, and they sold out in three minutes, Mr. Mathews said. The event also draws a lot of spectators, especially given its remote location on an island with no cars: More than 2,000 people came to watch this year.
“It’s become really competitive,” Ms. Wood said. “It’s getting harder and harder.”
Mr. Jennings, the first American to win the world championship, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he hoped the scandal would not tarnish the reputation of the event.
“Some people see glory as a different thing,” Mr. Jennings, who runs a stone-skipping competition in Kentucky, said. “I see it as following the rules, doing what I’m supposed to and winning in true fashion. Some people see glory as winning at all cost.”
Becoming the world champion of stone skimming is not easy, but it is straightforward. Contestants must use stones that were naturally formed on the island, and they cannot be wider than three inches. (Organizers measure the stones with a piece of metal nicknamed “the ring of truth.”)
A contestant gets three attempts to make their stones travel as far as possible on a roughly 207-feet-long quarry. The stone needs to skip at least twice and must stay inside a marked lane.
“It’s a really useless life skill, but I seem to have it,” said Ms. Wood, who traveled close to 13 hours to get to Easdale. She described the event as welcoming and heartfelt. “It’s super quirky,” she added.
While contestants’ techniques differ, Ms. Wood said that part of the trick lies in the fingers. “It’s the spinning of the stone that stabilizes it,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the wrist action.”
The stone-skimming world championship started on Easdale in 1983 after a couple of people came up with the idea in the pub, “like all the best things,” Mr. Mathews, the organizer, said.
It went dormant for a while, then returned again in 1997 as a charity event for the local community and has been held every year since, with the exception of the pandemic.
The championship has received more attention than usual across Britain this year because of the cheating scandal, said Mr. Mathews, one of about five dozen people who live on the island year-round.
But on the island itself, he said, calm has returned. “If you open your window here,” Mr. Mathews said, “you’ll hear the waves slapping and birds tweeting, and that’s it.”
Claire Moses is a Times reporter in London, focused on coverage of breaking and trending news.
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