By Luke
Fri, Oct 21 2011 10:00 am | Comments

Olivier Derome

Olivier Derome was born and raised in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, a small Canadian town about 45 minutes southwest of the island of Montreal. Derome’s birthplace as a professional wakeboarder is nearly 1,500 miles south at the series of lakes, rails and trailers that comprise The Projects wakeboard and wakeskate camp outside Orlando. Derome lived and worked at the rail mecca for four years, honing a style that has made him one of the world’s elite rail riders. In fact, it was the first-ever Red Bull Wake Lab — the brainchild of The Projects mastermind Pat Panakos — that afforded Derome his first break. Matched up against the world’s best rail riders, Derome stood out for the first time, winning the revolutionary event and cementing a foundation he’s built on ever since. While The Projects’ rail gave birth to Derome as a pro rider, the 25-year-old is far from a one-trick pony. Last year, he notched his best competitive season ever behind the boat, scoring third-place finishes at two stops of the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. He finished seventh overall in the PWT season standings and landed just outside the top 10 in the King of Wake. In April, Derome landed his first 1080; it was only the second time a rider has completed three full rotations wake to wake. Derome’s duality extends beyond his success on both rails and boat. Perhaps more than any other Canadian pro, Derome maintains a dual citizenship of sorts, splitting time between his birthplace and his birthplace as a pro. Derome spends much of the year as your quintessential Orlando pro, riding daily alongside Aaron Rathy and Phil and Bob Soven. Yet he still spends the summers at home in Canada, heading up a wakeboard camp called Pop Wake School with his younger brother Raphael, last year’s Rail Master at TransWorld WAKEBOARDING’s Wake Awards. We traced Derome’s career from early sessions as a toddler to his recent introduction into the 1080 club and found out how he maintains focus in the face of so many twin allegiances. Read the full interview.