Red Cedar River Floods, Drawing Surfers

Above: Joe Matulis hitting the Red Cedar River with his surfboard this afternoon.

Joe Matulis keeps an eye on the Red Cedar River’s conditions, hoping for a day like today—when the river is high enough to create a place to surf.

I came upon Matulis this afternoon when I went down to the river near MSU’s Administration Building with an East Lansing High School junior with whom I frequently walk in the afternoons. (Disclosure: I gave birth to that ELHS junior.) The two of us went down specifically to see if there might be a surfer-attracting waves forming, and we were obviously not disappointed.

Said ELHS junior happens to be enrolled in the legendary John Plough’s A.P. Physics class, so I asked him to explain why the waves form at this particular spot when the river is high. He reminded me that there is a constructed weir at this particular location—a short, concrete, horizontal dam running across the width of the river.

This, he explained, causes the water to curl in a particular way when the water is high, creating waves. He added that the physics of this is actually really complicated, as is true with a lot of fluid dynamics.

Stopped for an interview by this embedded ELi reporter between his attempts, Matulis told us he graduated from MSU in 2007 with a Kinesiology degree. He grew up in Midland and learned to surf on the Great Lakes and in California. He was a lifeguard in Orange County for ten years. Today he is a physical education teacher in the St. John’s school system.

Matulis explained that today’s conditions are actually a bit too high in terms of water to create the kind of phenomenon he hopes to catch: a steady standing wave. “I want the water to come down a little bit,” he said, explaining that when it does, it will create the ideal conditions.

Right now there seems to be little chance of the water coming down soon. East Lansing is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 p.m. As shown in the photo below, the banks have already been breached near the MSU Main Library.

Want to see a YouTube video of people surfing the Red Cedar River? Scroll down.