Wakeskate champs take the South Coast by storm
Spectators were fortunate enough to witness the skills and talents of the world's best wakeskaters.
UMTAMVUNA River Lodge in Port Edward played host to the Backyard Sessions 2017 last Saturday and what an event it was! Perfect weather was accompanied by some of the best wakeskating the tour has seen.
Wakeskaters went down in the heat of the day for the title of 2017 Backyard Sessions champion with perfect glass-smooth water.
They familiarised themselves with their runs as well as the obstacles that the course had to offer.
The Pro Men’s final was insane, with huge and new tricks being thrown into the riders’ runs.
To take the podium in the Pro division, riders had to have perfect passes, but with the Pros putting all they had into their runs, this wasn’t always the case.
There were a few riders that went down attempting to land huge spin tricks and this unfortunately put them out of the running for the top three spots.
PHOTO BY PHILIPPA MAKEPEACE
The Pro Men’s division was exciting as always and saw a good battle take place between the top riders.
Matti Buys, of South Africa, stayed consistent in the Pro Men’s division earning him first place, while Cole Kraiss, always a top spot contender, put in a good run to secure second place.
In the Open Women category, the battle for first place commenced between Nikki Pavlakis of South Africa and Zuzana Vrablova of Slovakia.
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Although Nikki landed some big spins, it wasn’t enough to beat Zuzana who took first place.
The women’s level of wakeskating has gone from strength to strength and Zuzana was inspirational and amazing.
PHOTO BY PHILIPPA MAKEPEACE
This was the first year that all our juniors (aged seven to 12 years) competed.
Most notable was Creston College’s Kiera Booker who, in the past seven months of wakeskating, has shown immense growth. His notable performance earned him first place place in the Open Wakeskate category.
Nicole Dry of Umtamvuna River Lodge said that she was just really happy with how event panned out.
PHOTO BY PHILIPPA MAKEPEACE
“All in all, this year showed a great amount of growth in both the level of riding and participation in all divisions.
It’s great to see the youth getting involved as well as the pros helping out to ensure the sustainability, of not only the sport, but a healthy and determined generation of riders.”
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