Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: I was around six or seven years old or 1976-’77, my first bike was a Schwinn Sting Ray, which I later put BMX bars and knobbies on. I, like every other kid interested in bikes in the 70’s, made wedge ramps using bricks and plywood. My next bike was a blue Schwinn 36/36 Scrambler. Friends and I were building primitive dirt jumps in a shaded creek area by the time I turned 11 in 1981. I guess you could say I’ve been into BMX since then so about 21 years. I recently had kids ask me at skateparks how long I’ve been riding, they literally can’t comprehend someone who’s been riding twice as long as they’ve been alive, and their jaws just drop.
TABLES.
Shot of me from 1983 and the jump where I learned tables.
MAT HOFFMAN.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: I met Mat’s older brother Travis first. Travis and I were the same age (14, 1984) and met at our local vacant lot/dirt jumps where all the bike riders congregated after school. A few weeks later Travis introduced me to his younger brother Mat at our local bike shop. Mat was fully into motocross at that age but was starting to get into BMX, he was 12 at the time. He and I became good friends immediately and have been ever since.
FIRST COMP.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: I went to my first national AFA competition in ’85.
5th place expert @ 1987 2Hip KOV round 3, august 8, 1987, Widefield, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Steve Swope busted loose with smooth style and severe variations. He did inverts, 270 drop-ins and a jammin' salmon, among others.
AFA MASTERS AUSTIN.
2nd place 16-18 expert ramp @ 1987 AFA Masters round 3, Austin, Texas.
6th place expert @ 1988 2Hip KOV round 3, Austin, Texas.
AFA MASTERS AUSTIN.
3rd place 18 expert ramps @ 1988 AFA Masters round 4, Austin, Texas.
AFA MASTERS FINALS.
3rd place 18 ramp @ 1988 AFA Masters finals, November 12-13, 1988, Wichita, Kansas.
Brian Tunney, espn.go.com, march 2009: As far as I know, Steve is the first guy to actually grind his pegs on a BMX bike (and also grind to fakie, which on a vert ramp, is no easy task.) Eventually, that one move transcended into the streets, and we all know where it's gone since. So thank Steve next time you peg grind anything.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: Sometime during the spring of ’89. I was riding with Craig Cambell during practice at the Vista, CA King of Vert comp. He did a peg stall and I asked him if he ever tried to slide it, he said no. Mat and I rode with skaters all the time at home and it was the first thing I started working on when I came back to OKC the following Monday.
BECOMING PRO.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: I have one semester of College but dropped out to follow my dream of riding my bike full time in 1989 and trying to become a pro bike rider.
KOV FINAL STANDINGS.
3rd place expert @ 1989 2-Hip KOV final standings.
KOV INDIANAPOLIS.
4th place am @ 2-Hip KOV, july 14-15, 1990, Indianapolis IN.
Late 1991. Matt Hoffman and Steve Swope decided to hit the drawing boards and came up with Hoffman Bikes. Prototypes were finished for winter trade shows.
5th place stuntboys vert @ BS 1992 round 1 "Chainwheel massacre", January 26-27, 1992, Jeff Phillips Skatepark, Dallas, Texas, USA.
15th place stuntboys vert @ BS 1992 round 2 "Death in the Desert", march 28-29, 1992, Thrasherland Skatepark, Arizona.
2nd place stuntboys vert and 7th place stuntboys mini @ 1992 BS round 3, Lake Owen Freestyle Camp, Wisconsin.
1992 BS finals Chicago, november 21-22, 1992, SCRAP (Skateboards, Cycles, Rollerblade Action Park), Chicago, IL.
Steve Swope knocked himself clean out on a 360 drop-in.
4th place stuntmen vert @ 1993 BS round 3, september 24-25, 1993, Hoffman Bike Park, Oklahoma City.
One handed cherokee turndowns to lookback - yes!
5th place stuntmen vert and 7th place stuntmen street/mini @ 1994 BS round 3, september 3-4, 1994, Hoffman Bikepark, Oklahoma City, OK
6th place stuntmen vert and 8th place stuntmen street @ 1994 Bicycle Stunts round 4 and finals, november 18-19, 1994, SCRAP Chicago, Illinois.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: I was very excited about the possibilities of what it could mean to the sport if done well but slightly tentative about what could happen if we were made to look like a circus act. In 1995 I was the manager of our traveling fair show called the Sprocket Jockey Bicycle Stunt Show, VP of HB and a competing pro in vert and into our 4th year of organizing the Bicycle Stunt Series, which were the biggest bike competitions at the time. Basically I looked at them from the perception of an athlete first and a bike company owner second and a competition organizer third. We all knew it was going to be the biggest BMX competition ever and hopefully it would be done with minimal cheesiness and represented us in as close to true form as TV is capable. It came off very well thanks to the first bike organizers Hal Brindley and Steve Buddendeck.
8th place stuntmen vert @ 1995 Bicycle Stunts Series round 2, july 8-9, 1995, Hampton, Virginia.
7th place stuntmen vert and 8th place stuntmen street @ BS 1995 round 3, september 1-3, 1995, Hoffman Bike Park, Oklahoma City, OK.
Steve Swope rode well with backflip wallride attempts, backflip over the box, and other such stuff.
Steve Swope was doing cherokees, jammin' salmons, 540s, and flip attempts. Eighth place.
1996 X-GAMES.
Brian Tunney, espn.go.com, march 2009: Steve, along with Mat Hoffman and the Hoffman Bikes crew, labored for years as the creators of the Bicycle Stunt Series, driving all over the country to organize a grassroots BMX comp series that brought BMX out of the lean years and eventually helped push BMX into the TV spotlight. So if you got into BMX because of the X-Games, or watched the X-Games, or have ever been influenced by any BMX on TV in the past 15 years, you have Steve to thank in part. (Steve's also the guy you hear commentating on BMX during the X-Games.
Steve Swope, BMX Business News, 2002: Mat and I took over in 1996 to current as well as ESPN putting the Bicycle Stunt Series on the network too. I competed in the XG until 1998 in vert and once in park. It finally became too much for me after the ’98 XG. I hadn’t touched my bike for two weeks leading up to the event because I was so busy getting ready for the event, it definitely showed in my runs.
BS FINALS.
8th place pro vert @ 1996 Bicycle Stunts Series finals, september 6-8, 1996, San Diego, CA.
BMX MEN.
Poorboy BMX-Men video.
Steve played Monkey Boy in the Hoffman Bikes production, Until Monkeys Fly.
BACKYARD JAM.
6th place A-group vert @ 1997 Backyard jam, july 12-13,1997, Hastings, UK.
Paul Roberts, Ride BMX UK october 1997: Steve Swope put down the microphone long enough to carve the hell out of the vert and had two big attempts at flips, 6th.
Interview in Ride BMX US issue 44 october 1999.
9th place stuntmen vert @ CFB 2000 round 3, finals, july 6-9, 2000, Woodward, PA.
18th place pro vert @ 2004 worlds, Cologne (Germany), Jugendpark, from June 24th to 27th, 2004.
KATIE.
www.fatbmx.com, december 2004: Big congratulations to Steve Swope and Katie Moses who tied the knot earlier this month.
Press release, december 2006: Mat Hoffman’s Long-time Business Partner, Fellow Rider and Friend Heads to California and Takes New Position at IMG OKLAHOMA CITY— Hoffman Enterprises announced today that founding partner Steve Swope will be moving to California and taking a position with IMG in its Action Sports division effective January 2007. “Steve has been a great business partner and will continue to be one of my closest friends and confidants,” said Mat Hoffman. “I am happy for him and this opportunity as he was already moving to California in support of his wife’s recent promotion. I am going to miss him in Oklahoma, but I know this is a good thing for Steve and a good thing for the action sports community.”
Swope and Hoffman grew up in Oklahoma together and were professional riders beginning in the mid-1980s. When Hoffman decided to start Hoffman Bikes and Hoffman Promotions (1991), Swope worked diligently alongside him and earned partnership in the businesses. More than twenty years later, Swope and Hoffman are more like brothers than business partners.
“This wasn't an easy decision for me," said Swope. "To work alongside your closest friend every day for 18 years doing something you love, has been a dream come true. I can never thank Mat enough for the opportunities he has provided me. With this new role or anything I do in the future, I will always be loyal and dedicated to the growth and success of BMX in the action sports world."
Swope will be working with IMG in its Los Angeles office and lending his expertise in action sports, client management and event planning.
www.fatbmx.com, october 2007: New arrivals are always good. Seems like more and more people are taking care of the BMX future. Congrats to Steve Swope and wife Kate on their first baby. Avery Kathleen Swope was born on September 21st at 11:02pm. Weighed in at: 7lbs 9-oz, and 19 3/4" tall. Baby and Mom are doing great. Dad is psyched!
Brian Tunney, espn.go.com, march 2009: Steve decided to throw an Old School BMX reunion at Woodward West, and naturally, the event snowballed into what is sure to be an awesome gathering of BMX legends and heros, riding and enjoying some good times together.
Steve Swope, espn.go.com, march 2009: While at NORA Cup last year, I had some inspiration after a lot of free drinks provided by Red Bull. NORA Cup is always a great place for everybody to hang out that's not a contest environment, so it's much more relaxed. It's a good time and it's a good chance to catch up with everybody. And you can see a lot of the old school guys there, but not everybody. I thought I should do something where all the older guys get a chance to hang out in a fun environment at their own event. A lot of them are dads now with younger kids. When you're a dad, you always want to be able to bring your family and be able to ride with your kids. I wanted to put all that in one venue and Woodward was an obvious choice. I work with Woodward now, and it started all coming together with Woodward this past December. The secondary reason is I selfishly wanted to get a group of older riders together for a good session, without the young destroyers of today around to remind us we can't hang with the new school.
Art webzine #4.