Wakeskate and judging with Max Gefvert
Wakeskate and judging with Max Gefvert
It all began with placing last in a club competition wakeboarding. Max tried wakeboarding for the first time in 2003 but found his true passion – wakeskate – after the poor results in his first competition. When entering similar contests in wakeskate he noticed an improvement- he did not place last.
”Wakeskate is like a wakeboard without bindings. Riding it is similar to skateboarding, many skate-tricks can be done on a wakeskate too, it pretty much looks like skateboarding on water.”
2006 Max won the Swedish Championships in Wakeskate boys class. His previous experience skateboarding helped him improve his wakeskating and earned him a spot on the national team in 2010. After taking it to the next level with training in an elite sports high school and really experiencing the pressure that comes with competing, Max knew it wasn’t for him. He noticed there was a lack of good judges in the sport.
”Often wakeboarders judge wakeskate since the people who really knows the sport is competing themselves. That’s why I felt I could really contribute to the sport through judging.”
When talking to Max he just got back from judging Red Bull Copenhagen.
”Sweden is doing good internationally. The sport has grown really fast after we got our first cablepark in 2011. Wakeboarding behind a boat is becoming less popular while cableparks are getting bigger. Also, riding on ponds using a winch is growing. The problem is that the water can be really bad and you risk getting ear infections, that´s where SurfEars would help, I’ve had several ear infections.”
Max is now in the wake committee in the Swedish Waterski & Wakeboard Federation. He judged the Swedish Championships twice and the Scandinavian Championships once.
We asked what inspires him.
”Skateboarding. The amount of practice and endurance it takes to learn the tricks they do is amazing. Also the people behind the sport, the creativity and motivation that makes the sport constantly grow bigger. If wakeskating becomes anything close to what skateboarding is today, I can’t even imagine the level of riding!”
