Wake-boarding is a beautiful acrobatic water sport that is extremely intriguing to watch. To the viewers, the activity is presumed to be highly difficult. The idea of doing tricks on a short, wide board while being towed behind a motorboat is quite difficult to imagine, yet it is extraordinary. Those who participate in the sport grow to become more comfortable with this idea, just as senior Logan Siems did.

Siems has been competitively wake-boarding for six years. She learned how to wakeboard a year before she started competing, but said that she didn’t do it very often. She says she owes it all to her parents.

“My parents helped me learn how and have always encouraged me,” Logan said.

Siems loves wake-boarding and is continuing to better her skills so that she can compete in bigger competitions.

“I’m hoping to ride in WWA (World Water park Association) type tournaments next summer because I think they may have more competition at a local level which would be really fun,” Logan said.

She wants to start working on tricks such as a toe side back roll, blind 180, and 360. All of these are tricks she plans to start on in spring.

“You kind of have to accept that sometimes you won’t land all your tricks and sometimes you will fall and it will hurt,” Logan said. “The bigger tricks you do, the harder you will fall, but you just have to remember it’s all worth it when you feel the excitement of having a good run in a competition or landing a new trick for the first time.”

Siems says that wake-boarding is an escaping moment where you have to be completely focused so everything else leaves your mind. Wake-boarding takes a few specific attributes.

“You have to be really dedicated and kind of patient to learn new tricks because sometimes it will take a while to land it and it will hurt when you fall,” Logan said. “It doesn’t really require a lot of natural athletic ability. You just have to keep trying to succeed.”

Siems participates in around four or five INT’s (Non–Intimidating Novice Tournaments) yearly and recently she went to eastern regionals. She is hopeful for her wake-boarding future, and hopes to join a wake-boarding team at the college she chooses.