Kenny Nguyen strolled onto the weatherworn dock, a bulky wakeboard under his left arm and a thick lifejacket over his right shoulder.
He scanned the quiet lake. Conditions were almost perfect.
One by one, six more members of the UF Wakeboard Club groggily made their way to the final practice of the year. Following the Southeast USA Wakeboard Collegiate Regionals at Lake Wauburg last month, novices showed up to try new tricks, while experienced teammates fine-tuned techniques.
UF applied physiology and kinesiology freshman Erin Waterman, 19, said Friday practices are typically for beginner riders. Thursdays are reserved for first-string competitors.
“I’m not Thursday material,” Waterman said. “I’m lucky to come out Friday.”
But because the season was ending, it didn’t seem to matter whether it was a wakeboarder’s first time behind the boat or thousandth. The warmth of the sun and stillness of the wind created an ideal day for gliding across the lake.
First up was first-year UF astronomy graduate student Nolan Grieves.
While the crew geared up the boat, the 22-year-old slipped his feet into wake boots and buckled in. When the boat idled away toward the northern shore, he remained standing, strapped to the board still on the dock.
Then, with a deafening roar and a forceful jolt, the boat raced forward, causing water to gush from behind the engine.
Grieves gracefully hopped onto the water and carved into the surface, eventually performing a tantrum, an invert and a scarecrow.
Grieves was one of the nine team members who competed at regionals. Although there are about 30 students in the club, only the best compete.
“We invited 10 or 12 other collegiate schools, and we had a regional contest qualifying for USA Wakeboard Nationals,” said Aaron Alanguilan, a 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior. “We placed first ... so I’d say that’s a success.”
Despite the club’s competitive edge, all members maintain a no-judgment attitude.
“You know you’re physically capable of doing it,” Alanguilan said. “It’s just a matter of you having faith in yourself.”
Next was Nguyen.
Rather than sliding into the standard boots, Nguyen, a 20-year-old mechanical and aerospace engineering sophomore, laced up his black Vans with electric-blue laces. He’s a wakeskater.
“Wakeskating is like skateboarding on water,” he said.
If tricks are difficult to land while the board is attached to its rider, how much more difficult is it to do an aerial stunt when the board has a mind of its own?
The answer was found about 10 feet high, midair, where Nguyen found himself without a landing device after ramping off a particularly large wave.
“Wakeskating has a very hard learning curve,” he said. “I can’t do much, but it’s fun.”
That can-do attitude characterized the group of wakeboard club members.
Whether a trick landed or a rider got a faceful of lake, the camaraderie experienced in the back of a noisy ski boat seemed to be enough to make even the most non-athletic person strap a piece of fiberglass to his or her feet.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 12/3/2013 under the headline "UF wakeboarders finish season on a high note"
James Ort, 21, extends his body during a trick at Wakefest 2013. About 15 students performed in several categories of wakeboarding at Lake Wauburg.
