The 2014 USA Nationals took place at Callaway Gardens this past weekend and it was a blast. For those of you not familiar with this venue it is the legendary location of the Masters waterski tournament that has been going on since 1959. This is probably my favorite venue of all the competitions I have been to. It has stadium seating right over the edge of the lake and completely covered with the pavilion roof – think going to Sea World and sitting watching a show! Very cool.
Anyway, this event sold out in like an hour this year – it’s popular among wake surfers! Everyone was there and the competition was strong. This event gave us the opportunity to ride for 3 days – two days of qualifying and then a cut to 5 riders for the finals on day three. I was stoked to have two good days of riding up front which landed me in second place going in to the finals.
Sunday was finals and I had another great day. Landed my surf style 3-shuv among other tricks. What made this day extra special was the fact that it was my 15th birthday! And I got the best present ever by winning 2nd place in Pro Men’s Surf!! The icing on the cake was during the podium ceremony they stopped to sing happy birthday while I was standing on the podium! So very cool and a great example of how fantastic this community of wake surfers really is.
Next stop: Las Vegas for the World Championships!
