NEW YORK -
NEW YORK (AP) - A 17-year-old boy who says he
has "abnormally fast thumbs" has been named the fastest texter in
America for the second year in a row.
"It feels incredible," said
Austin Wierschke of Rhinelander, Wis., after winning the sixth annual
U.S. LG National Texting Competition in Times Square on Wednesday. He
gets $50,000 in prize money, which he says he'll save and use to pay for
college, along with the $50,000 he won last year.
Eleven contestants from
around the U.S. competed, all using the same type of cellphone, an LG
Optimus Zip phone with QWERTY keyboard. Cellphone-maker LG Electronics
sponsored the contest.
The competition tested
three skills - speed, accuracy and dexterity - on four different
challenges. They were "do you know text speak?", in which contestants
had to spell out text abbreviations; texting while blind-folded; "text
blitz," where phrases were shown to the contestants for a length of time
and they copied them as fast as they could; and texting backward, where
jumbled words were given to the contestants and they had to figure out
the word.
To practice for the competition, the 17-year-old champion said he sent almost 500 texts a day to his friends.
Runner-up Kent Augustine,
16, from Queens, said he was "a little disappointed," but he won't be
walking away empty-handed, since the second-place winner gets $10,000.
He said he was going to try again next year.
Fellow competitor Kelly
Barracato was not surprised that Wierschke won. She said she noticed
that during the press tour, "his thumbs were flying."
Anita Levine, 16, and Anan Arias, 17, came out to see the competition.
Arias is an avid texter who says she sends more than 100 texts a day. "Texting is part of the new generation," she said.
Levine said she loves texting but her father won't let her. "My dad thinks it is pointless," she said.
Jan and Lori Emanuele, both
in their 50s, were curious to see the competition. Both text often but
say it can sometimes get a bit overwhelming.
"When I first saw 'ttyl,' I thought, 'what is that?'" Jan Emanuele said. TTYL stands for talk to you later.
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