Australian Nationals and Wakeboard World Cup

Still on a high after winning back to back Moomba Masters, it was straight to the airport for a flight to Perth for the Australian Wakeboard Nationals.

Aussie Nats at Bonneys

The Venue was the famous Bonney's Ski Park at Baldivis south of Perth where they have 5 lakes which are mainly used for waterskiing.  The location was great and so was the weather.

I took my Moomba form into the comp and qualified straight through to the final.  I pulled up with a slightly sore wrist which is something that I just can't seem to get right.  Last year at Nationals I damaged it in the Semi and had an emergency MRI before the final.  I was scheduled to fly to the US the next week to start my first full Pro Tour and that meant more to me than a Nationals Title.  I rode with a heavily strapped wrist and managed to pull of the win then.

12 months later I ripped it again riding in the final.  It caused me to fall on a Whirly 5 which is a basic trick for me but one that has a lot of wrist rotation.  Adrenaline took over and I got up and landed it straight away, bit just couldn't ride my best and two falls saw me out.  My goal of winning back to back Nationals as well was now over and I have to settle for 2nd place.

Dylan Prideaux in Action

The next thing that happened was a bitter sweet victory when I was finally given a spot on the Wakeboard World Cup which is the Holy Grail of wakeboarding.  Fully funded air and travel costs and guaranteed prize money for every rider.   I was torn between my dream of riding the event and the risk of further injury that would impact on my US Tour. 

I sought some advice from Dad, and a couple of people who I really respect and then I spoke to John Wickcliffe the President of Wakeboard Australia to advise him that I would not be taking up the invitation and would travel home for emergency treatment.  John called me to the stage at Nationals presentations to tell the audience.  I thought I was doing the right thing, but for many more people it seemed much bigger.

The end result of that decision was that Mitch Daniel got my place.  I was so happy for Mitch and his family.  He has always been a great competitor and I know how much time, effort and money a family invests to allow their kids to compete in this sport.

Once my wrist feels secure my next goal is to win Junior Men's at the Australian Cable Nationals in Penrith, and then it is off to Orlando at the start of May to kick off my US Tour.

Moomba Masters Champion - back to back!

I had an great weekend at Boardstock at Penrith finishing 1st in the Rail Jam, 2nd in the King of Kicker and 3rd in the 1/4 Pipe Challenge.   However I was really disappointed at my ride at the 2nd stop of the Australian Open.

My good mate Carro from Sweden came up to the Gold Coast to chill at ours for a while and I made the most of every moment since Penrith to focus on Moomba, Nationals and the start of the US Tour.

I decided it was time to get serious and just focus on the 15 or so key tricks I need to be able to adapt to throw into a comp pass.  It was great to get a variety of Mobe 5's, Glides and consistent 9's back into my regular rides.

Dylan Prideaux - 2012 Moomba Master

Moomba was a fantastic event.  Better time slots and more quality riders.  To have Steel Lafferty, Daniel Powers, Sam Carne, Marcello Giardi, Brenton Priestley etc in the event put huge pressure on me as the defending champion.  All the boys rode solidly and they was some pretty serious tricks being thrown down.  I had some great rides, but had the worst ride in the Semi's.  Just like last year, I just scraped in to the final.  Fortunately I was able to stick a solid pass and walk away with my biggest cheque yet!

Riding in front of over 200,000 fans on a warm Mebourne night was awesome.  Having so many family and friends in the crowd was even better!

I'm currently in Perth at Bonney's Ski Park to hopefully defend my Australian Open Mens Title as well.

Moomba Masters - Melbourne 2012

As for the US Tour, I have decided to not go over and ride Wake Games at OWC (which is tough because it's my sponsors event) but to stay and ride in the Australian Cable Nationals at Penrith in April.  I love riding Cable, and it's good to be versatile in the sport.  My new sponsor CTRL make great cable boards and I want to do my best to get them on the podium.

I will head to the US at the start of May and do the whole US Pro Tour, US Nationals, US Masters and the World Championships.  Looking forward to it a lot.