151 shannon thomas was surfing in the great miami river monday when dayton ohio police park rangers and firefighters pulled up thomas 32 frequently surfs the riverscape river run which is part of a course for surfers kayakers and canoers but he had never done it before when the river was at flood stage he told abc news today authorities arrived after reportedly receiving 911 calls about a person possibly in distress in downtown dayton which thomas blamed on a lack of awareness about river surfing i only say that because a lot of people dont understand the safety aspects and how if you take those precautions there really isnt much danger the freelance graphic designer said i even studied the river for 20 minutes before getting in i had a surf partner who watched me who could jump in after me if something happened in the video thomas posted on his facebook page he can be seen surfing while first responders gather at the edge of the river i didnt surf too hard because i knew it was my last surf so i just stayed on the wave as long as i could so responders could see i was in no danger and knew what i was doing thomas said he wore a wetsuit and a personal flotation device while he was in the water police told thomas there are no laws stopping him from surfing in the river but that his hobby was inducing panic he said ive had police and rescue show up before there while i was surfing in winter at lower levels but they saw that i had a wetsuit and pfd knew what i was doing waved at me and then left he said thomas has been surfing in the area for about two years he has also been paddleboarding rafting kayaking and canoeing in the area he said he was visiting his hometown of dayton at the time he now lives in a van with his dog traveling fulltime and competing in surfing competitions he said it was a blast surfing he said of the river experience huge glassy waves