For the first time in 20 years the Nautique WWA Wakeboard World Championships presented by GM Marine fittingly returned to Australia. With a large contingent of the world’s top talent, the Australian wakeboard scene has remained a dedicated, passionate mainstay for the sport, oftentimes outpacing the US in terms of new riders to watch. The timing of the Worlds is such that it can make sense to wrap up the competitive season in a location where the summer season is coming to an end, however with so many riders and supporters of core wakeboarding residing in Australia, it made sense to drop in and have them host the event as their season starts to kick off.
Nautique rider and 5 time World champion Aussie Cory Teunnisen has been pushing for his hometown of the Gold Coast in Queensland to be the setting for the event and his hard work paid off. With the famous surf spots breaking in the distance, the riders faced some coastal, windy conditions in a salt water setting, giving the field a few extra challenges to deal with. In rough conditions there can be one of two semi-predictable outcomes. First, an up and comer takes out seasoned riders by navigating through the chop or secondly and the outcome of this year’s finals, the veteran riders with the most competitive experience took home the titles using their full set of tools.
Already a legend at age 27, Meagan Ethell’s 8th WWA World title came through her smart and composed approach to her runs. Knowing exactly what she needed to do while putting just the right amount of pressure on the field, Meagan was able to fend off one of the pre-event favorites Zahra Kell who suffered a few uncharacteristic bobbles. While Kell secured the overall World Series title based on her results earlier in the season, the day belonged to Wakeboarding’s Queen Ethell.
Nic Rapa Rapa rode to the high expectations that he has earned for himself over the last 5+ years. Eight-time Men’s World Champion Harley Clifford summed it up nicely on the live-feed when Rapa took off the dock in the finals.
“I don’t think we will see any major mistakes from him, he is just rock solid in these scenarios,” said Clifford.
Rapa had his work cut out for him being last off the dock after Teunissen landed a Switch toe-side 1080 and a backside 900 in his first pass. He left the door open with falls in his second pass and off the double up. Thomas Herman exhibited Danny Harf-like nerves when he strung together an insane run after going down on his first trick in his first pass. Herman’s goal was to get to the end of his pass to get the double-up where he could land the trick that took down the recent Red Bull Double or Nothing contest, the nose grabbed double backroll, backside 360. Rapa took home the overall World Series win, his second, even with a fall, while Thomas Herman placed a career high 2nd in the event and 2nd in the overall series. A great way to cap off their seasons.
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Smart money on predicting a World Champ would have been placed on Noah Flegel in the foil categories. No surprise there as he took down both the traditional and strapped-in divisions, while still making the final in the mens wakeboard category. He has made it clear that he wants to focus on his wakeboarding to round out his collection of titles.
Other noteworthy storylines were the Smith family taking 4 podium spots with Amber (formerly Wing) winning the women’s 40+ division, Dean taking the mens 30-39 diviision, and sons Will and Jamison taking 2nd and 3rd in the Jr Boys Beginner division. Amber and Dean have numerous pro titles under their belts but enjoying that as a family as representatives of Australian wakeboarding was something for the memory books.
Italian standout Giulia Castelli capped off her stellar season with a win in Jr Pro Women. She was on each podium for all of the events in the series this year so locking in the overall title was a cakewalk that she overdelivered on, landing a backside 540 in the finals. Fellow Italian Frederico Dal Lago has quickly become one of the most exciting Jr Pros to watch on the mens side and came through with a victory. These two riders are pushing the limits for all current and future pros and should definitely be two to keep an eye on.
