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As one of the biggest and most high profile professional wakeboarding world championships ever conducted, the 2016 Nautique WWA Wakeboard World Championship was held in Toronto, Canada. Canada being able to host this world championship event definitely helped to bring a lot of new attention to the sport in Canada, and helped to bring pro wakeboarding into the international spotlight.
The event was hosted by the CNE Waterfront in Toronto, which served as a fantastic venue to hold this prestigious competition. In addition to being a world class location to hold the WWA world championships, the weather during the contest through the dates of August 25th to August 28th was nearly perfect. The almost perfect weather for the contest in Toronto, Canada allowed the elite wakeboarding competitors to truly showcase their optimal skills, uninhibited by bad weather or excessive chop out on the water.
Entry fees into the world championship contest put on by the WWA in Toronto, Canada were such that each Amateur competitor had to pay $125.00 and professional division wakeboard athletes had to pay a total of $150.00 in order to compete. This truly was an international world championship, since there were a total of 12 different countries being represented in the rosters of this massive event.
Many of the competitors in this high profile contest were being towed by one of the most game changing wake boats to ever enter the scene in recent years, the Nautique Super Air G23. Behind this elite wake boat, the competitors executed some of the most insanely impressive and inspiring runs in wakeboarding history. In an interesting turn of events, and an implicit advertisement for Nautique, the Nautique team riders managed to win and place highly in the final rankings for the event.
Prize Money Breakdown Across Multiple Competition Categories
With regard to the prize money breakdown across multiple categories of competition, the Professional Men’s prize money purse was by far the largest across each category. In the Pro Men’s category, the complete prize money purse ended up totaling $40,000.00 which is substantial for any competitive wakeboarding event. The men’s 1st prize winner stands to win $12,500.00, 2nd prize winner is rewarded with $6,000.00, and 3rd prize winner is rewarded with $5,000.00. After third prize, the prize amounts get significantly lower and extend down into the 13th place position being rewarded with $500.00 total.
In terms of the professional women’s prize money purse, the overall pool of prize money totals at $15,000.00. This prize money purse is one of the biggest found anywhere in the world of professional women’s wakeboarding. 1st prize in the pro women’s championship is poised to be rewarded with $4,500.00, 2nd place earns $2,500.00, and 3rd place is rewarded with $2,000.00 total. In the pro women’s category there is prize money awarded to the top ten finishers, with the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th place spots all standing to win a total of $750.00.
Competitor Performances and Final Scoring
Many of the elite, high ranking competitors at the WWA Nautique world championships in Toronto, Canada reported on the event by saying that the conditions during the event were absolutely perfect. The fact that conditions for the competition were so favorable allowed for the competitors to compete uninhibited by bad water conditions, which can sometimes throw off the optimal performance of the athletes. The Nautique team did extremely well at this event, with four of their elite team athletes finishing in top podium finish spots.
1st Place – Cory Teunissen:
Taking the 1st place finish, and the overall world championship this year at the 2016 Nautique WWA World Championship in Toronto, Canada was Cory Teunissen. Cory was quoted as saying after the event, “I’m beyond stoked to walk away as the Pro Men’s winner here at the 2016 Nautique WWA Wakeboard World Championship”, so clearly his overall morale experienced a huge boost at winning this prestigious event.
With a final scoring of 93.33, Cory Teunissen put up a truly legendary performance at the world championships with some amazing maneuvers out on the wake. Two of his biggest tricks in the competition ended up being a massive Moby Dick 540 rotation, and a nose grab switch heelside 900 spin that really impressed the crowd and the judges. Cory’s world championship win is serving to propel his career ever farther, and has brought him front and center into the spotlight of the elite wakeboarding community.
2nd Place – Mike Dowdy:
Mike Dowdy put up a truly inspiring performance at the WWA Nautique World Championships in Toronto, Canada, which was good enough to rocket him into 2nd place in the event. Dowdy is a consummate professional, who has developed his own style over the years which incorporates a next-level approach to technical maneuvering on the wake.
Dowdy has an arsenal of favorite tricks which he has mastered over the years, and he pulled out all the stops at this event in order to take home the 2nd place win. Whether he was throwing massive mobe 540 spins, multiple-grab spinning underflips, and even some double flipping maneuvers, Mike Dowdy had the audience’s jaws on the floor watching his performance. Dowdy’s insane double flip landing helped to earn him his final 87.67 scoring and his 2nd place finish.
Dowdy’s final round performance was clean and smooth, and he didn’t try to push himself too far in terms of risking a wipeout by pushing limits too far. His 2nd place finish at the Toronto world championships happened to correspond quite effectively with his move into 2nd place in the overall 2016 Wake Series Standings by Nautique. Mike Dowdy utilized the Super Air Nautique G23 wake boat quite effectively, and had nothing but positive things to say about his experience out on the water at this prestigious event.
