Get to know the IWWF wakeboarders!
The IWWF World Cup tournament will be headlining the extreme multi sports Action Sports Games event.
Current world IWWF champions Freddy Krueger (waterski big jump) and Harley Clifford (wakeboard) will be back this year to defend their titles. World champion female waterski jumper Jacinta Carroll (AUS) plus IWWF world female wakeboard champion Raimi Merritt (USA) will also be returning to defend their titles.
We asked a few of the team to tell us a bit more about themselves!
David O’Caoimh (IRL)
David is from Dublin, where growing up wakeboarding was a rather chilly affair, so he loves coming to Mandurah for the unparalleled Australian summer! Last year he had a great season, coming 6th in Mandurah and 4th in in Linyi, China. He’s also had a knee injury over winter, but that’s not stopping him!
| Name | David O’Caoimh |
| Nickname | Dave is most commonly used. But Davy is pretty popular too. I like WavyDavy!! haha |
| Best place to wakeboard | On a lake for sure! Where I ride at home is full of hills, so the lake is always calm. It is a bit cold, but it’s still the best place in the world to ride!! 🙂 |
| What equipment do you use? | Usually just a Board, Bindings, Rope and impact vest. Wetsuits are really useful too for protection when you’re trying new tricks or if it gets a bit too nippy! |
| Pre-competition superstitions / routine | I don’t really have any to be honest. A good warm up and a stretch will do the job for me. |
| Pre competition meal? | Again anything to fill the belly! I find I’ve a lot of adrenaline during a competition so what I eat doesn’t effect me too much 🙂 |
| Hobbies | Wakeboarding 🙂 :). But I love cars, and just activities in general 🙂 |
| Proudest Moment | Winning Wakestock UK in 2011. It was my first big contest win and I just felt really good after it. And It made me want to do it again 🙂 |
| Biggest influence | I take influence from a lot of Wakeboarders. But in all honesty my biggest influences in the last year or two, are outside of Wakeboarding. I’m enjoying watching BMXers, skaters, snowboarders. I like watching how they do things their way, and try to let that influence my riding. |
| Biggest achievement | 4th in the World Cup in China last year. |
| Goals | To try stay healthy and keep doing what I love. To try and perform my best in every contest and also to help Wakeboarding get to the main stage in Ireland. 🙂 |
Follow David on Instagram and Facebook.
Website.
Raimi Merritt (USA)
Raimi grew up around waterskiing and wake boarding and started competing professionally at age 14, and these days she’s considered to be one of the toughest competitors in women’s wakeboarding. Since her pro debut in September 2007, the ten-time world cup champion has pushed the envelope on women’s wakeboarding and given other riders a run for their money.
Her achievements are awesome, and many!
- 10x World Cup Champion
- 2x World Champion
- 2014 USA Female wakeboarder of the year
- 2013 Masters Champion
Raimi’s sponsors include: Nautique Boats, Hyperlite Wakeboards, Breathe Boardwear, Proof eyewear, Rollei action cam, orig audio, Peripheral life & Style. Raimi loves to travel and loves Australia, follow her adventures here.
| Name | Raimi Merritt |
| Nickname | Raimunted |
| Best place to wakeboarding | New favorite place is the Yarrawonga river! |
| What equipment do you use? | Hyperlite Maiden series with the Nautique G23! |
| Pre-competition superstitions / routine | Ride/have fun always! |
| Pre-competition meal? | Ice cream |
| Hobbies | Anything around the water, traveling and exploring new places, watching sunsets. |
| Proudest Moment | Seeing how tough my nephew was after having skull surgery a few weeks ago |
| Biggest influence | My parents! They have inspired me to be the best I can be and have fun with everything I do. |
| Biggest achievement | Winning the 2013 Masters |
| Goals | Win some more contests, film & shoot more and have fun traveling around the world riding with my friends! |
Follow Raimi on Instagram and Facebook.
Caroline Djupso (SWE)
In 2013 and 2014 Caroline placed third in the IWWF Mandurah World Cup. Caroline’s had a huge year, taking out first place in the Swedish national Championships and second in Germany’s Chill & Ride. Caroline’s career has spanned the last eight years and her record of achievements is a mile long, including being awarded Female Rider of the Year (Europe, Africa and Middle East) and Swedish Rider of the Year for 3 years. Definitely one to watch!
| Name | Caroline Djupsjö |
| Nickname | Carro |
| Best place to wakeboarding | USA, especially Orlando and Texas! |
| What equipment do you use? | ow, its a lot but I’d say my most important items are my Hyperlite Maiden Board, Brighton bindings and O’Neill vest and bikinis on the water and my Lifeproof case for my phone off the water! |
| Pre-competition superstitions / routine | I usually wake up early for a yoga session to calm my nerves followed by a cup of coffee! After that I just try and go for it, competitions are fun because they make us push ourselves and the adrenaline you get from riding in front of a massive crowd is AWESOME 🙂 |
| Pre-competition meal? | a Monster Energy and a banana! |
| Hobbies | Surfing, snowboarding, traveling, |
| Proudest Moment | Getting elected European Female Rider of the Year for 2014 |
| Biggest influence | Anyone I ride with, at the moment it’s JB O’Neill, Nicola Butler & Breddas. I also look up to badass female surfers and skier such as Sage Erickson and Lindsey Vonn and of course my family! |
| Biggest achievement | Signing with my main sponsor Betsafe! Ever since doing so I’ve been able to live my dream, traveling all over the world and doing what I love which would not have been possible without their support! |
| Goals | To progress my riding as much as possible! I’m always pushing to learn new tricks and hopefully inspire more girls to get into wakeboarding!! |
Follow Caroline on Instagram and Facebook!
Carro Djupsjö from GNARproductions on Vimeo.