1996 HYPERLITE CANADIAN WAKEBOARD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Greg Fenton (Courtesy Wakeboard Magazine)

The rate at which our sport is growing is astonishing in itself, but
what is completely mind-blowing is the pace at which the level of
riding is imporving.  The Canadian riding scene is no exception to this
phenomenon.  Just last year, you would have been hard pressed to find
even the best local Canadian riders landing inverted moves at
competitions.  It was a different story, however, at the first-ever
Hyperlite Canadian Wakeboard Championships, held on Labour Day weekend
at the Best Western Hidden Valley Resort in Huntsville, Ontario.

Many of the competitors were landing a variety of rolls, tantrums,
Raleys and big spinning moves.  These performances alone were
impressive to the Muskoka summer crowd, but what really amazed everyone
was the riding of Canadian pros Jeremy Kovak and Jeff Heer.  With
well-established reputations from their pro tour results and their
year-round Florida training programs, it was no secret that these guys
would be in a league of their own.  The cool thing was that they both
conveyed an attitude of being at the event more for the stoke than for
the sake of winning.  What developed was a battle for the Open Canadian
title between Jeff and Jeremy and a super-competitive fight to be the
3best of the rest'.

Under gorgeous sunny skis, the competition got underway on Saturday.
The Launch Pad-boosted Malibu Echelon wake was big, and little rippers
in the boys division (15 and under), like 7-year-old Colm Oswell and
10-year-old Matt Bryan made it look ever bigger.  Nothing fazed Andres
Gutierrez of Toronto though, who topped his next competitor Scott Bryan
by nearly 2000 points.  Jessica Steinberg took the girl's division
title ahead of 10-year-old Michelle Rand and Jordie McTavish.

Chris Thompson, Sean Fleming and Todd Schell were the powerhouses of
the Junior Men's Division (16 - 18).  Fleming's score of 10875 was
enough for a decisive win, but it took a runoff between the other two
to decide 2nd and 3rd places (Thompson prevailed.)

Next up were the women, who were faced with quickly-deteriorating water
conditions due to the long-weekend boat traffic.  For the most part,
all the women rode in equally rough water, but some obviously struggled
with the challenging conditions.  Experience paid off for Ontario
wakeboard circuit regulars, who dominated the top positions.  Kathy
Gray took first with solid stand-up passes, while rivals Sonya Sneyd
and Alison Thompson took 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Late Sautrday afternoon, the men's 19 & over competitors were given the
option of riding right then in the bumpy water leftovers, or first
thing Sunday morning.  Guys like Stuart Cameron were the first to
exchange the rough water for a few hours of sleep the next morning.

Once the fog lifted Sunday morning, the remaining men took their
passes.  The glassy morning water allowed for many of the best runs of
the competition. Somehow, the riding had a much more serious tone than
the previous day. You could see the intensity on the rider's faces as
their boards pierced the smooth water like hot knives through butter.
This intensity was probably attributable to the competitiveness of the
19 & over category, which had over 20 riders from across the country.
The level of riding by many of the prairie and west coast boys was very
impressive, considering they don't have a local competition circuit.
In fact, Ontario's David Tsuyuki, who finished 4th, was the only
easterner in the top 5.  Alberta's Jason Gardner topped the field with
a score of 14660.  2nd and 3rd went to BC rippers Steve Critchley and
Jamie Rizzuto.

With the Canadian champions for the respective categories decided,
attention shifted to the open final on Sunday afternoon.  The intensity
of the morning turned to nerves in the afternoon.  Many of the
competitors who shone in their first round passes, choked heavily -
falling or squeaking through their second passes with poorly-executed
tricks.  Even Jeremy Kovak fell on the last trick of each of his two
passes (granted, they were a fakie to fakie mobius and a frontside
front flip to revert).  The falls cost him the Canadian Open title,
which went to BC's Jeff Heer, who Kovak is used to beating on the Pro
Tour.  Heer was equally stoked to have won the title as he was to win
his year-long bet with Kovak that he would win the Canadians.  The fact
that he missed a highly lucrative wakeboard demo he was invited to do
at the Vancouver Indy made the victory just that much sweeter.

The same competitors who advanced to the open finals had one
more chance to ride - in the event that brought the championships to a
climax - the expression session.  While all the top riders nailed some
pretty big stuff, it was inspirational to watch Kovak and Heer do these
same big moves like it was a walk in the park.  Then they pulled out
their arsenal of mind-bending tricks.  By far the most impressive was
Kovak, who dumbfounded the masses with his signature endo front flip.

The event was made possible because of tremendous efforts by Nicole
Maurer and Paul Jurbala of the OWSA, Russ Rowan of Pipeline Surf and
Ski in Huntsville and Chris Horan, who worked overtime that weekend and
for months prior to the event to make it the huge success that it was.
Shouts also go out to Hyperlite, which picked up the ball as title
sponsor, and all the local sponsors who collectively donated prize
money.  Thanks too, to all the countless volunteers who helped the
weekend run smoothly.

Considering the positive vibe that was apparent at this first-ever
Canadian Wakeboard Championship, there is no doubt that the Canadian
wakeboarders will play a bigger and bigger part in the development of
the sport.  I can only imagine how much better everyone will be riding
a year from now.