Teen Wins Back-to-Back Speed-Texting Titles

Austin Wierschke and his furiously fast thumbs have won the National Texting Competition for the second year running. The 17-year-old from Wisconsin will take home $50,000 in prize money after out-texting ten rivals at the competition in New York City's Times Square, reports AP. "It feels incredible," says Wierschke, who plans to save the cash for college. The texters, who were blindfolded for one round, were tested for speed, accuracy, and dexterity.

Watching from the stands was 2010 champ Brianna Hendrickson, who retired from the competitive texting circuit with sore thumbs at the age of 15. She tells the Los Angeles Times that rules for wise texters include not breaking up by text, getting out of people's way if you can't walk and text at the same time, and never texting while driving. The secret to prize-winning texting, she says, is using a rolling motion instead of poking at the keys. (More texting stories.)