Nico von Lerchenfeld beat out Shawn Watson and Keith Lidberg to win the 2011 O’Neill Wake The Line event in Cologne, Germany. Von Lerchenfeld convinced the judges with two close-to-perfect runs through the obstacle-strewn pool setup in downtown Cologne. His first run included a snowboard-inspired combo on the first gap, a huge melon air out of the quarter pipe and a switch toeside frontside 900 to top it off. When he hit his own signature obstacle in his second run, he did a perfectly executed backside 270 to switch noseslide and secured the win. Shawn Watson proved to be the most consistent rider, laying down top level runs all evening, including his signature olé toeside 540. Third place went to Lidberg, who showed excellent riding all evening but couldn’t maintain the same consistency as his opponents.
In the wakeskate event, 13-year-old Daniel Grant from Thailand amazed everyone when he first hit the course. He quickly put pressure on big names such as Nick Taylor and Leo Labadens. In his final run, Grant exploded and laid down the best line of the day, topping it off with a clean heelside frontside 540. Second place went to last year’s winner Jan Kissmann who was followed Andy Kolb in third.
