No prom, no problem: Manitoba twins mark grad by surfing in caps and gowns

Twin sisters Tatum and Brooke Lambertwere not going to let their last year of high school end without a splash.

After learning the traditional large ceremony and grad dinner at Winnipeg's Sturgeon Heights Collegiate would be postponed until at least the fall due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on gathering sizes, the Grade 12 students found their own way to mark the milestone.

"We put on our cap and gowns and we went [wake] surfing to have a fun way to celebrate," said Tatum, 17."We just always wanted to do it."

The sisters ordered the caps and gowns, in their school colours, fromAmazonso they don't have to return them. They brought the grad wear out to Lake of the Woods, near Kenora, Ont., last weekend.

The pair suited up in the caps and gowns and hopped on their boards to surf in tandem behind the family's boat.

"I did not think this was going to happen," said Teresa Lambert, the girls' mother, who filmed from the boat as the grads surfed.

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She said her daughters had been heartbroken over the cancelled June celebrations andhad been talking about doing this for the last fewmonths.

"They just love surfing. They're just water girls they're always in the water," she said.

WATCH | Manitoba twins mark grad by surfing in caps and gowns:

Manitoba twins mark grad by surfing in caps and gowns

4 years ago

Duration 0:34

Twins Tatum and Brooke Lambert took to their surfboards in caps and gowns to mark their 2020 grad, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sisters have been wake surfing for three years, but Tatum said all the extra fabric made it tougher.

"It was a lot harder because it was so heavy," she said. "It felt good once we were up there wearing it, but in the water, not so much."

Tatum said herschool will still hand out diplomas in small groupsthis June, but admits "it sucks" that the celebrations will be delayed indefinitely.

She offered a message, though, to her fellow 2020 graduates.

"Go out and have fun!"