Words: Drew Danielo
For the 2023 World Wakesurf Surf Championships, we traveled to beautiful Huntsville, Utah. Arriving on Wednesday, Pineview Reservoir looked to be the prettiest venue World’s has been held to date. A nice 75 degrees and sunny with the lake nestled down in the mountains and the buoys and course all set for 3 days of the highest level of riding out there.
Thursday morning started early with the Youth Girls taking to the water. The riding was on fire all day but the temperature was steadily dropping fast. As the amateur, semi pro and pro divisions hit the water we were dealing with wind, clouds, rain and hail. There was even snow on the mountain tops, but the riding was not affected by the weather! With so many talented riders in every division, the riding was through the roof. Amateur divisions where a 360 and shuv out used to get you top spot now has most riders throwing some sort of a 540 shuv variation. Friday the weather continued with a high of about 45 and wind, rain and hail. Not ideal but you can’t control the weather!
Saturday morning we woke up to ice frozen on our windshields and the early morning temperature of about 32. But as finals day started, the sun came out, the temperature warmed up and the battles were on. It was clear that Team Phase 5 was on a mission to take every podium spot they could fill. And they did a great job of it. Phase 5 finished with 15 total riders on the podium and 8 of them crowned World Champs. Lee Hite took home the Amateur men division with 2 great runs- Day 1 Lee landed a 5 shuv, 540 big spin and a 720 big spin to take the crown. Kaelyn Hellemn rode really solid all weekend to take home the Amateur female crown, along with Dana Wright who claimed the the title in the Masters female skim division. Chelsea Caywood and Rob McClelland both finished the season as the Semi-Pro World Champs with some superior riding. Whitley Stewart and Jett Lambert finished off both of their dominating seasons by being crowned the 2023 Professional Skim World Champions.
The last one was probably the most for me to watch. I won worlds for the first time in 2003. Twenty years later, I was stoked to see an adaptive division for the first time at the World Wakesurf Championships. And to see Flo win riding his caged Phase 5 Wakesurfer with his big smile and positivity was incredible. Congratulations to all the riders and a big thank you to team Phase 5 for your hardwork and your professionalism on and off the water. There is no other team like this one. Plus I think you motivated me to maybe come back and try to take the win in the Masters Division next season! A huge thank you to Centurion Boats and all the other sponsors for making this event happen!
P5 TEAM RESULTS:
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Youth Girls: 🥉 Aria Hellemn
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Adaptive: 🥇World Champion Flo Dungl
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Amateur Female Skim: 🥇World Champion Kaleyn Hellemn 🥈 Faith Byram
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Amateur Mens Skim: 🥇World Champion Lee Hite 🥈 Cade Lybeck🥉 @skeeter_shreds
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Masters Female Skim: 🥇World Champion Dana Wright
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Semi-Pro Female Skim: 🥇World Champion Chelsa Caywood🥈 Evie Shropshire 🥉 Jenny Vandevelde
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Semi-Pro Male Skim: 🥇 World Champion Rob McClelland 🥈 Luke Hutcherson 🥉 Frankie Schifano
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Female Pro Skim: 🥇 World Champion Whitley Stewart 🥉 Ashley Inloes
- Pro Mens Skim: 🥇World Champion Jett Lambert🥉 Reed Cole-Tucker
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