Dreaming of Fame and Fortune on a Pogo Stick
New York Times (March 22,1986)
By WILLIAM E. GEIST
At 2:06 p.m. -yesterday, a "sea creature" was spotted in New York waters -- the Central 'Queens Y.M.C.A. swimming pool in Jamaica, to be more precise -- by children in the Polliwog and Guppy swim classes, who were stared half out' of their wits.
Yvonne Dye, aquatic coordinator at the Y, identified the "creature," as the children described it, as a mammal named Ashrita. Furman, 31 years old, of Jamaica. He wore a swimming suit, goggles and snorkel, and was "acting in a peculiar manner," miss Dye said, "bouncing up and down in the deep end on a pogo stick.
I Spring is a bit different in other parts of the country, where crocuses pop up through melting snows, downy baby robins appear in newly constructed nests and buds sprout on tree limbs. "Seems like it brings out more weirdos in New York," said the mother of a Guppy, grasping her child and watching Mr. Furman bob up and down in eight and a half feet of water, breathing through the snorkel.
To everything there is a season and, surely, spring is the only possible, the only remotely conceivable season for aqua pogo. .
That's right, aqua pogo, America's fastest growing -- another man tried it yesterday -- and still least popular sport. Mr. Furman was demonstrating this sport of his invention yesterday, and, with a touch of delirium perhaps brought on by spring fever, predicted it would be the "next major craze" to sweep New York.
"You don't have to be a genius to see the potential here," he said, climbing out of the pool.
"I ask you," he said, "is this any dumber than hanging upside down in gravity boots?" And he went on to ask the same of other fads, including: mechanical- ' bronco riding, hot coal walking, power -breakfasting, Argen-tine tango dancing, yo-yoing, playing Frisbee or Hula Hoop.
Fine. But in order -to be a current fad exercise activity in New York, a number of key questions must be answered.
Is it healthy? "Absolutely," Mr. Furman answered. Is it aerobic and of benefit to the cardiovascular system? "Definitely! " he said. Does it tone the muscles, provide weight loss and make one look more attractive? "Without question."
And, of course, perhaps the most. important question for popular fitness programs: Can one meet eligible, like-minded, scantily clad singles? "By all means!" he said. "In bikinis, even," a bystander added. (Whether or not one would want to meet a like-minded person while aqua pogoing, Mr. Furman admitted, is a separate question.)
Sure, but can one spend outrageous. sums of money on ridiculously overpriced designer attire meant exclusively for this activity?
"Not yet," admitted Mr. Furman, who is the manager of Guru Health Foods, just up Parsons Boulevard from the Y. But he said that his father, "who admires me generally," is a lawyer and is looking into trademarking the term, aqua pogo.
He added that his friends were looking for investors in a company that would manufacture aqua pogo items, Including: underwater pogo sticks, aqua pogo designer wet suits, gloves and shoes. "Every good fad sport needs special shoes," ' he said, and, of course, apres-pogo wear."
" 'Expensive designer wetsuits aren't necessary, of course," Mr. Furman said, his words echoing in the indoor pool chamber, "but neither are those $300 sweatsuits people wear to health clubs."
"Aqua pogo is exhilarating, like hang gliding," Mr. Furman said, but also very relaxing. Everything is in slow motion down there and silent. It could replace psychotherapy.
I can imagine hundreds of people doing it at once in a pool," he said. He envisions aqua pogo, centers and saltwater pogoing.
He sees himself writing a book, a best seller perhaps, on aqua pogo. lie can - envision a best-selling home videotape., ,
"Diet is important," he said, thinking in terms of "The Aqua Pogo Cookbook." "You lose a lot of weight doing this, despite all the water you swallow."
Someone else at the pool noted that, in addition, aqua pogo is not carcinogenic and does not promote communism in this hemisphere.
What about pitfalls? "Drowning, I suppose, would be one," Mr. Furman said, "and your skin can shrivel up a bit," noting that this is what happened when, last week, he set the world aqua pogo record of 200 minutes, to honor his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy, whose center is also on Parsons Boulevard. He reported the record to the Guinness Book of World Records, the editors of which did not have the slightest idea of what he was talking about.
Mr. Furman is not a man who is easily discouraged or humiliated. He also holds the world record for forward somersaulting -- 10 miles. "If you think people think aqua pogo is weird," he said, "you ought to see them staring at me when I'm practicing somersaulting."
He practices long-distance somersaulting on the running track at Public School 86 in the middle of the night. "People come by and I get scared," he said, "but not nearly as scared as they are of me."
The children at the pool were asked if they would like to try aqua pogo. "No way," said Crystal Elliott, 7 years old. "Too weird."
"I'll tell you something, kids," said Fe ix Oleaga, a swimming instructor,
as he dove into the pool with the pogo stick. "As you go through life, you've got to try all of these new things."
"Oh, noooo," Crystal said, sounding as though she saw a long, hard life ahead.
PHOTO CAPTION: Ashrita Furman, peerless champion of aqua pogo, with his equipment at the pool of the Central Queens Y.M.C.A. in Jamaica, Queens.
by William E. Geist, About New York, Dreaming of Fame and Fortune on a Pogo Stick, New York Times, March 22, 1986.
