Drew Danielo beat out 2010 champ Keegan Flegel to win his sixth world title at the 2011 Centurion Boats World Wake Surfing Championship, which went down Sept. 23-24 on the Colorado River in Parker, Arizona. Bri Chmel won her fourth world title in pro women’s skim-style while Chase Hazen and Rebecca Ort won the pro men’s and pro women’s surf-style divisions.
With more than 80 competitors riding behind the all-new Centurion Enzo SV 244, including a large international contingent, those standing atop podiums on Saturday evening truly can be considered the world’s best wakesurfers.
The women’s pro skim-style division brought the sport’s best competitors for a tough final day of consistent shoves, airs and spinning. Chmel once again pulled away with the victory, despite ever-increasing pressure from competitors. Meanwhile, Ort won pro women’s surf-style with a dominant run of grabbed airs, 360s and even a surface 720.
In the men’s pro surf-style category, Hazen stood above the competition with some of the biggest airs of the day, consistent spins and huge carves to take home the victory.
The sport’s biggest rivalry came to a head in the men’s pro skim-style category when legendary five-time world champ Danielo and the reigning world champ Flegel squared off. Young gun Flegel came out of the gates in Friday’s qualifying with a strong run and the sport’s first-ever 540 shove-it in competition, but seasoned veteran Danielo was hungry to regain his title and threw down a mind-blowing run with tricks thrown and caught high and a perfect backside big spin with his signature fluidity. In the finals, Flegel had difficulty with his 540 shove but still came strong with a barrage of spins and airs. Danielo, cool under pressure and riding behind his training boat, threw down another mind-blowing combination of big spins, 360 shoves, huge grabbed airs and alley oops to pull away with the victory by a narrow margin.
Photos: Aaron Katen
