Tom Penny

Early life Penny was born in Abingdon, England,

In 1993 Penny made his first international video appearance in 411VM'''s "Issue 2" and was featured in a "Wheels of Fortune" segment—Penny was 16 years of age and the segment features footage from the Radlands Skatepark in Northampton, UK. At the age of 16 years, Penny was sponsored by Flip, Independent, Droors, Union and SS20.

United States relocation In late 1994, Flip left UK shores and relocated to Huntington Beach, California, US, the "heart" of world skateboarding. Along with other team members, Rowley, Scott and Glifberg, Penny exerted a significant impact on the skateboarding sub-culture with his small part in the Flip industry section in 411VM's "Issue 11"; his switch frontside flip at the Carlsbad Gap; and a five-trick downhill run that ended in a backside tailslide on a nine-stair handrail. By the end of 1995, Penny had received acclaim from notable professional skateboarders, such as Tony Hawk.

During his time in the US, Penny released video parts in the mid-1990s, such as Etnies' Hi-Five, Transworld Skateboarding's Uno, TSA's Life in the Fast Lane, Balance in the World of Chaos and Dope Clothing's Time for Tea. During this period, Penny also received his first cover photograph for Transworld, in which he is performing a frontside bluntslide in Huntington Beach.

In 2023, Penny was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, which is in the U.S.

Sponsors As of 2021, Penny is sponsored by:

Flip Skateboards éS Footwear Ghetto Child Wheels Mosaic Bearings

Skateboarding influences In a 2012 interview, Penny identified the five skateboarders that have been the most influential throughout his career: Daewon Song, Rodney Mullen, Danny Way, Chad Muska and Steve Caballero. He also acknowledged contemporary influences, such as Quim Cardona, Paulo Diaz and Sean Sheffey—"People that are slightly interesting; make it more fun; make it more enjoyable; more original skateboarders; stylish skateboarders".

In July 2013, professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez identified Penny in his "top ten" list of professional skateboarders, explaining that "Tom to me was like a mythical figure ... To me his style was my favorite in skateboarding just the way moves, the way he did his tricks, it looked so lazy and so buttery."

Contest history Penny made his debut at the 1993 UK Championships Contest at Radlands, where he came 3rd—US skateboarder, Willy Santos, won the contest.

Penny returned to Radlands in 1994 for the UK Championships and finished in 6th place; US contestant, Mike Santarossa, won the contest.

Penny won the 1995 Radlands UK Championships Contest, which had evolved into one of the world's biggest contests. Penny beat over 100 other competitors, including over 75 US professionals, including Ray Barbee, Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Andrew Reynolds, Ed Templeton, Eric Koston, Phil Shao (now deceased) and Jamie Thomas.

Videography Rollersnakes "720" (1992) Flip: The Long Overdue (unofficial) (1993) 411VM: Issue 2 – "Wheels of Fortune" (1993) Hook-Ups: Asian Goddess (1994) ATM: Come Together (1995) etnies: Hi-5 (1995) 411VM: Issue 11 – "Flip Skateboards Industry Section" (1995) TSA: "Life in the Fast Lane" (1996) Transworld: Uno (1996) Dope Clothing: Time for Tea (1996) Genie of the Lamp (1998)Landspeed: CKY (1999) éS: Menikmati (2000) Transworld: Anthology (2000) Collage (2001) TSA: Life in the Fast Lane (re-release) (2001) Flip: Sorry (2002) Transworld: Videoradio (2002) éS: Germany Tour (2002) éS: Europe Tour (2003) Flip: Really Sorry (2003) Flip: Feast Tours (2006) Flip: Extremely Sorry (2009) Supra: European Tour (2011) Skate Sauce: Hard Times But Good Times'' (2012)