Swim Skateboards Co. Part 2: Sac to Portland | Life in the Van Vol. 6 – The PLATFRM

The Swim Skateboard Co. squad hops back in the van to complete their trek north, leaving California behind en route to Oregon for greener pastures and more terrain. Led by Kevin Terpening, with Dan Plunkett managing the vibes, Ethan Loy, Justin Drysen, Ryan Connors, Keenan Lewis and Marley Humphrey pack in for the journey.

Their first major stop is in Eugene, Oregon, where they slam a meal at pro skateboarder Josh Mathews’ restaurant before being blessed with a session by the man himself. Then they skate a few crusty spots in true Pacific Northwest style, and Ethan explains how he scored a quick come-up on some cash in the gambling-friendly state while en route to drop a different deuce.

They continue on to Portland, where they have a plethora of pins provided by local legend Silas Baxter-Neal. After hitting a ton more spots, linking with plenty of homies, and stacking more Life in the Van moments, the Swim team wraps things up in high spirits after stomping their first road trip together.

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Swim Skateboards Co. Part 1: LA to Sac | Life in the Van Vol. 6 – The PLATFRM

Meet Swim Skateboard Co. and jump in for a two-part series of Life in the Van. The crew comes together for their first official team road trip, covering ground from Los Angeles to Sacramento, California, before ultimately reaching Eugene and Portland, Oregon, for a true West Coast classic.

After 15 years of living in L.A., professional skateboarder Kevin Terpening moved back to his home state of Ohio and started Swim Skateboards in 2023. Soon thereafter, Dan Plunkett joined the effort, and everything else has since come naturally for the brand. Today, they have a full team (all of whom—besides Kevin—live in L.A.), featuring pros Justin Drysen, Ryan Connors, Ethan Loy, and Keenan Lewis (no longer on Swim Skateboards) and Marley Humphrey.

They start things off with a dream backyard skatepark session before taking their first pit stop under a bridge to stack manuals. After that, they squad up at a junk jam for the parking lot party vibes, then continue north, ripping their way up the coast and bringing us along for the ride.

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Paul Rodriguez’s Evolution: Fatherhood & Skateboarding Longevity | Captain of Industry Ep. 3

In this third and final episode of Captain of Industry, Paul Rodriguez shares a few of the secrets to his success—and how he’s watched his goals shift before his eyes. P-Rod talks about what it’s been like skating since he was 12, pushing through bouts of burnout, and continually finding the hunger to reach new peaks.

He also reflects on growing up watching his dad live out his dream at the highest level, and how that inspired P-Rod to chase his own. Then, at 23—right in the prime of his career—he had a daughter of his own, pushing him to shift gears once again.

Paul has been putting in the hard work for years and, over time, has learned the keys to staying inspired.

“All the cliché, corny stuff that you hear—‘Passion. Love for the game. Focus. Dedication.’—they’ve become clichés for a reason. Because they’re true.” — Paul Rodriguez

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The Rise of Paul Rodriguez: Pro Career, NikeSB Deal & Building Primitive | Captain of Industry Ep. 1

Paul Rodriguez, aka P-Rod, has become one of the most well-recognized figures in skateboarding today. His ability on a board speaks for itself—loudly. But more than just his skating, Paul’s path to the upper echelon has been carefully carved by the mindset it took to get there.

Captain of Industry is a three-part series with P-Rod that explores how he went from learning kickflips in the grass in front of his mom’s house to getting his name on 10 signature Nike shoes, and eventually starting his own brand to stay closely connected to the skateboarding industry for years to come.

In this first episode, Paul recaps a few of his career highlights, like signing with Nike and how Primitive first launched as a sneaker store before transforming into the full-fledged skateboard brand it’s known as today. P-Rod sheds light on how these moves came to be while describing what his headspace was like along the way.

“The greatest in their field, I think they all are—more or less—on the same wavelength mentally.” — Paul Rodriguez

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Koston Eaton Inside PHXAM 2026: Qualifying 1st, 100° Heat, and Finals Pressure | First Person – The PLATFRM

Experience the PHXAM from Koston Eaton’s perspective—a local-grown legend in the making. One of Arizona’s own, Koston dropped in for his fifth time at Cowtown’s annual event, all while keeping us in tow the entire, blisteringly hot weekend. Skating in 100-degree heat is anything but easy.

On Saturday, Koston qualified first, earning a “golden ticket” directly into Sunday’s final. However, his work was far from finished. Watch how he handled the contest mayhem and hear exactly how he felt while battling through experience in this episode of First Person.

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PHXAM 2026 Highlights: The Ultimate Skateboarding Event – The PLATFRM

PHXAM 2026 brought together the future of skateboarding in one place. The vibes stayed high despite the Arizona heat, the music stayed loud, and every session pushed the limits. Huge shoutout to all the skaters, fans, and crew who made it happen. This is more than a contest—it’s a community. Relive the weekend, and see why PHXAM continues to set the tone for the next generation.

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Bradley Church: Weekend at PHXAM 2026 | Spot to Spot – The PLATFRM

Hit the heated streets of Phoenix, Arizona with one of the nicest, and freshest skaters in town—Bradley Church takes the crew around for a day (and a couple nights) of skating, going Spot to Spot.

Despite Cowtown’s PHXAM coming to town for the 24th annual event, Bradley found the time to give us the royal treatment and unveil a few of his favorite places to stack when he wasn’t in contest mode. And if you’ve seen any of his parts, you know he has the goods. One city, four spots, nearly a dozen clips and the nicest tour guide you can ask for.

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PHXAM 2026 Rockstar Energy Best Trick Highlights: Junseung Lee, Steven Vasquez, Carlos Garcia & More

The Best Trick event took place on the Rockstar 6-stair handrail setup, featuring curved handrails on the sides and a third going straight down the middle. Open to ALL of the contestants from the weekend, the mayhem could hardly be controlled as the masses swarmed the set.

Junseung Lee took home the win for his heelflip blunt slide bigspin out, Deyvid Tuesta Mota’s nollie 270 heelflip back lipslide and Steven Vasquez’s bigflip bluntslide took home some cash as well.

Featuring Deyvid Tuesta Mota, Kenny Reed, Logan Perez, Reemy Aniceta, Carlos Garcia, Drew Nguyen, Greg Rodriguez, Mark Dipasquale, Cassius Booker, John Osborne, Isaac Relis, Steven Vasquez, Anthony Guerrero, Erick Borges, Victor Ramon, Nick Todero, Bryshan English, Shinga Ma Uemura, Victor Castillo and Junseng Lee.

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PHXAM 2026 Men’s Final Highlights | Deyvid Tuesta Mota, Koston Eaton, Malachi Gray & More

The Desert West Skatepark Plaza felt the 100-degree Phoenix heat on Sunday, but Lima, Peru’s Deyvid Tuesta Mota was not fazed and he fired off to win it all at Cowtown’s 24th Annual PHXAM presented by Vans. Skating at full speed with command of the entire park, Deyvid rattled off a nollie 270 board slide, nollie front boardslide and a nollie flip back lip all on the Rockstar 6-stair handrails during his best run to land $5,000 and a Golden Ticket to skate this summer at the third annual Rockstar Energy Open in Portland.

Malachi Gray had the goods to earn second to score $3,000, and Abner Pietro took home $1,000 for finishing third, respectively. Between Malachi putting down a kickflip front blunt down the handrail and making a massive kickflip transfer, and Abner nailing more flips in and out of his tricks than the rest of the field—their highlights alone were enough for an edit. Check out a lot more, though, from the likes of Koston Eaton, Kristion Jordan, Isaac Relis and everyone else that earned a spot in the 2026 PHXAM Men’s Final in this recap edit.

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Keenan Lewis Destroys Street Rails & Stair Sets | Spot to Spot – The PLATFRM

After moving to California about two years ago, Keenan Lewis has been dialing in his skating on all fronts. Last year, he pulled a well-deserved Lunatic Fringe feature in Thrasher and then earned the win at PHX Am. From the contest formats to the streets, he’s undeniable. A self-proclaimed Skatepark of Tampa baby, Keenan spends the day showing off a bit of his impeccable rail game—he blames it on SPoT.

Keenan takes us for a warm-up session at Paul Rodriguez Skatepark off Laurel Canyon Boulevard before hitting two totally different styles of sidewalk spots in Sun Valley and North Hills. Then, to cap things off, he stacks a final round of clips at Los Angeles Valley College. A couple of quick ledge tricks to rewarm the legs before toying around on a six-stair, then he battles through a broken board to get the backside tailslide down the healthy 10-stair. Like we said, he’s undeniable.

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David Reyes and the Persistence That Took Him From Denver to Zero | Portraits – PLATFRM

Meet up with David Reyes at the Denver skate park to take it back to the very beginning. Revisit his stomping grounds in full. Learn about his childhood, his influences growing up and his introduction to the skateboarding industry. Then take the journey full circle to where he’s landed now — with his name on a Zero board.

Hard work and dedication don’t always pay off as fast as they should, but persistence does. David Reyes’ skateboarding is relentless. His approach to life and love for the craft are relentless, too. And as he keeps going, that drive is proving to pay off in full.

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