As the crimson sun shrank into the horizon of honey-coloured pools, leaving only a trail of golden speckles in its wake, this idyllic backdrop marks the end of the Singapore Wakeboard World Cup.

Held over the last weekend, Bedok Reservoir welcomed international wakeboarders from all over the world to compete for the prestigious award. Up to USD 60 000 (SGD 90,032.33) cash was offered as prizes and the finals held on Sunday determined the winners of the stash.

For Pro Men’s, Philip Soven walked away with USD 15 000 (SGD 22,510.02) while his female counterpart, Dallas Friday, was USD 8 000 (SGD 12,004.91 )richer by the end of the entire competition.

It was a day of winnings for the United States (U.S.) as both contenders were from Florida. Together, they beat 28 of the world’s top athletes and earned their spots as the leading wakeboarders of the world.

A competitive free ride format was used and the riders were judged on 3 style categories: execution, composition and intensity. To prove their worth, the riders also had to perform complex maneuvers off the boat’s wake. By the term complex maneuvers, it’s more than just flips and turns. Each competitor performed stunts that were hair-raising and truly an eye opening experience.

To sum up the Singapore Wakeboard Cup, it had indeed been 2 full days of non-stop water splashing fun!  The competition might have been the highlight of the entire event but there was also a carnival happening concurrently to cater to the families that had headed down to the reservoir park for a get together. Free banana boat rides were also offered to allow the public to enjoy themselves.

Singapore’s wakeboarding scene is up and coming but it seems to be set for the long haul. People had started wakeboarding for the first time in Singapore during the days in 1991 when waterskiing was still the predominant water–towed sport.

But gradually as waterways became populated and the calm water required for waterskiing became increasingly hard to find, wakeboarding began to replace waterskiing for the top position in Singapore’s local water sports scene.

Today, it has become the fastest growing water sport, increasing over 30% in participation over the past 3 years.

For more information on picking up wakeboarding as a sport, log on to www.pssa.com.sg.