The East Kootenay wakesurfer’s put on a strong showing at the 2024 Wake Canada National Championships over the weekend.
“We had over 60 riders from across Canada from as far west as Victoria, BC and as far east as Toronto and Perth, Ontario,” says one of the event organizers, Loree Duczek. “From personal bests and new tricks landed to the cheering of the crowd on shore, and the live entertainment as everyone gathered for dinner on the beach, it was an unforgettable weekend. And, it was great to see so many East Kootenay riders stepping onto the podium.”
In the Junior Boys Division, Jack Mailloux from the Newgate/Baynes Lake area put in a strong run in his first national championship and rode to the silver medal. The youngest rider of the day, Casen Taylor of Calgary took home the gold while Benson Hennessy of Victoria took bronze.
Olivia Sombrowski put in one of her top rides of the season and took the bronze medal in Amateur 2 Female Skim, one of 16 divisions run throughout the day Saturday. Ainsley Hennessy of Victoria earned the gold medal, while Carly Reitenbach of Foothills, AB captured second place and the silver.
In the Advanced Male Skim Division, Nick Jensen of Cranbrook landed a number of tricks on his way to the silver medal after being edged out by Calgary’s Noah Goulding, who rides and trains all summer in the East Kootenay on Tie Lake. Bronson Schmidtke of Nelson took home the bronze to round out the Advanced Male Skim Division.
The Masters Men’s Skim / Adaptive Division saw two East Kootenay riders taking gold and silver in what was one of the most inspirational divisions of the day. Cranbrook’s Mike Rouselle, who lost an arm and a leg in an industrial accident several years ago, now rides as an adaptive athlete and had the crowd cheering him on throughout each 55 second pass. Rouselle took home the silver medal while fellow East Kootenay rider Jason Williamson of Baynes Lake threw down on his runs on his way to Gold. Wayne Hennessy of Victoria took bronze in this, his first National competition.
Fernie’s Caroline Villeneuve, who is one of the world’s most decorated wakesurfers, showed her strong, consistent riding style and finished off the Nationals with the silver medal in the Pro Women’s Skim Division. Bailey Rush of Ponoka took gold, while Jolene Allen of Chestermere took bronze. It was a proud day for Villeneuve as she also cheered on numerous athletes who have trained with her through her H2O Wakesurf School.
It was a battle of the bros in the Men’s Pro Combined Division as 3x Canadian National Champ Ryder Duczek and younger brother Dagen went toe to toe. In the end, the torch was passed as Dagen Duczek took his first Pro Men’s Canadian Championship narrowly edging out Ryder in a tight battle for first and second. Surfer Keegan Hodgson of Olds laid down some huge tricks with a high degree of difficulty on his way to third place and the bronze medal with Kerry Williams of Calgary also putting in a solid run and rounding out the Pro Men’s Combined podium in fourth.
“There were several sets of siblings and entire families riding in this year’s event, which speaks to what it’s all about: having fun, spending time together on the water, and sharing the stoke,” adds Duczek. “We are so grateful to our sponsors who made the entire day possible, to all of the participants, and to their friends, family and the members of the public who came out to cheer them all on.”
The Wake Canada National Wakesurf Championships were held at Koocanusa Village on the shores of Lake Koocanusa and capped off another epic year of riding north of the 49th parallel.
