Amber Rohlman felt her stomach doing flips that she later replicated out on the water on her wakeboard Sunday.
Rohlman, 22, competed in this year’s USA Wakeboard Southeast Regionals held at Lake Wauburg. Rohlman participated in the event with the Florida State University wakeboard team.
She said she was nervous on the dock but excited out on the water.
Rohlman was a part of one of eight teams who participated in the competition. Teams from UF, FSU, University of South Florida, University of West Florida, Rollins College, University of Central Florida, University of Georgia and University of South Carolina showed up at the lake at 8 a.m.
Dixie Smith, 20-year-old UF Wakeboard Club president, said the teams consisted of a male or female wakeskater, the four best men and the two best women of each team.
Smith, a UF biology senior, competed with the UF team in the Women’s A category alongside Rohlman.
Rohlman won first place in the Women’s A division, and UF won the overall competition.
Judges scored the competitors out of 100 points according to amplitude, style, level of difficulty and fundamentals of their tricks, Smith said. She planned five flips, including at least two backflips and a 180-degree spin, for her routine.
Smith said her job as president included making the visiting teams feel at home.
“My No. 1 thought is always like, ‘I hope no one gets hurt and everyone’s happy,” she said.
The UF wakeboard team paid $200 out-of-pocket to cover the USA Water Ski, UF and Centurion insurance policies. Centurion, along with O’Neill and Rockstar Energy Drink, was one of the event’s main sponsors and provided all teams with the competition boat used to pull the wakeboarders.
To register, competitors paid $25 in advance and $30 at the venue, but the event was free to the public. The UF Wakeboard Club funded the event with sponsorship money, but the registration fees served as a fundraiser for the team.
During the event’s downtimes, the local band Pompeii Gift Shop played an hourlong set and the announcers judged grape toss competitions and oversaw a Cornhole tournament.
Patrick Volum, a 21-year-old FSU senior, said he could feel the camaraderie at the lake’s South Shore and had a great time all weekend.
“I feel surprisingly welcome,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 10/27/2014]
