After the rain passed, about 800 UF students and alumni in patterned bikinis and bright board shorts crowded Lake Wauburg’s South Shore on Saturday.
For the first time, WakeFest, the annual fundraiser hosted by the UF Wakeboard Club commonly known as Gator Wake, was held during the Fall term because USA Wakeboard rescheduled its national competition. The club raised about $3,000, which will be used for the club’s competitions and practices, said Spencer Sinclair, Gator Wake president.
At WakeFest, students wakeboarded around the lake, trailing behind a boat. At the end, a few people wakesurfed, where athletes aren’t strapped into the board like they would be with wakeboarding. Contestants were scored on style, technique and the difficulty of the tricks performed, from flips to extreme turns, said Sinclair, the 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior.
Sinclair said this year, WakeFest also added a men’s open division in which only current college athletes could compete.
Three UF students competed in this round.
UF aerospace engineering freshman Porter Strickland said his favorite part of WakeFest was watching the professional riders do tricks.
"It’s something (I can) look forward to if I can get to that level one day," the 18-year-old said.
UF aerospace and mechanical engineering junior Tommy Power competed in the men’s intermediate competition.
"It’s not so much competing against each other; it’s competing with each other," the 20-year-old said. "It’s a great support system."
