At an elite level and competing all over the world, towed watersports are sure to have some compelling moments. This year’s Nautique WWA National Championships presented by GM Marine spilled over with interesting moments and Olympic-like storylines.The event took place July 25-28, 2024 at Lake Tye, Monroe, WA, USA.
Leading up to the weekend-plus of WWA competition, there was hype surrounding Nautique waterman Noah Flegel and his quest to compete in a total of 6 different divisions. Hype might not be the right word as it sometimes carries connotations of overpromise or undeservedness. “Very real anticipation for what Flegel is capable of,” might be a better way to say it. Smart money had him taking at least one or two of the foil and/or surf divisions and making the finals in most, but how would he stay on his game over 4 days of competing?
- Pro Wakeskate: 2nd place
- Pro Men Wakeboard: 6th place (made finals)
- Pro Men Foil: 1st place
- Pro Men Foil (straps): 1st place
- Pro Men Surf: 1st place
- Pro Men Skim: 3rd place
That totals 14 rides, 6 finals, 5 podiums and 3 wins at one event.
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Arguably the most competitive division was his own worst placing of the weekend, but could be the most impressive. Pro Men Wakeboard has been reaching a level that even the 2024 champion, and very good friend of Flegel, Cory Teunissen states, “it has really gotten out of control. I did 2 doubles, a BS 9, no falls and got 3rd in the qualifying heat.”
Teunissen knows a thing or about what it takes to succeed in this environment, stay healthy, recover from injuries, and maintain the mental aspect to be in the top echelon. “For years it used to be 2 or 3 guys you could really count on taking out an event but now it is really the majority of the field. It has really tightened up, especially over the last couple of years. We are seeing the most polished and most technical display of wakeboarding the sport has ever seen and it is only going to grow to be even better.”
On the Pro Women Wakeboard side, the pre-event favorites were Zahra Kell and Meagan Ethell, but a concussion before the event put Kell’s status in question. Being in the hospital four days before leaving for Seattle, she decided to travel to the event and tone down her passes to avoid back edge catches. A testament to how deep her bag of tricks is, Kell had enough to take the win. A large part of that drive comes down to falling back in love with the sport. Her father/coach and legend in the wakeboarding community Scotty Kell sentimentally shared, “I’m soooo stoked to see that she is loving it. I love when I’m pulling her and it’s windy or rolly but she is smiling.” Surely seeing her smile at the top of the podium and being able to recover from the head knock had to stoke him out even more.
Pro Skim slayer Jett Lambert continues to be unbeatable and staved off some heavy hitters to take the Eagle trophy.
