Wide Awake

by Noah Johnson

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When a sport starts to blow up the way wakeboarding has, superstars are bound to arise—and wakeboarding’s biggest name is Rusty Malinoski. MF chatted with the 23-year-old wake phenom to hear his take on the sport he lives for.

MF: You’ve got a great gig. How did you become a pro wakeboarder?

RM: It was never my intention—I just started and learned really quick. I guess I had some natural ability. I loved it, but I never considered making a living out of it. I just kept getting better, and it fell into place. Now it’s my job.

How have you seen the sport change since you got started?

It’s growing so fast. More and more young kids are learning to wakeboard before they learn to water-ski. As far as water sports go, it’s gotta be the coolest and most fun thing out there.

Wakeboarding is going to continue to grow. It’s definitely not falling off at all, but it’s also not ever going to be as big as surfing. It’s just not that kind of sport. And that’s what I love about it. It isn’t as easy to go out there and get into, but if you really want to do it, you’ll find a way. We have limits, for sure,but so do other sports. You have to have a boat or know somebody with a boat—it’s not as easy as just buying a skateboard and walking out your front door. But like anything, if you want to do it, you’ll find a way.

What are the most challenging aspects of wakeboarding?

Physically, you don’t have to be really strong to wakeboard, because a lot of it comes from muscle memory—so practice will help more than anything. I’m a strong guy, I work out at the gym and play hockey, and I think that you’re better off being in good shape.

Mentally, the biggest challenge really is competition. There is so little room for error when you’re competing—you only get one shot.

Any special skills you’re proud of?

There are just so many tricks you can do in wakeboarding—endless varia- tions. Right now the biggest trick is a 1080. Only four have ever been done, and I’m the only person ever to do two. It’s three full rotations in the air. You need a big wake, and you have to time it perfect—so much has to go right to make that trick happen. As a wakeboarder, you always dream about it.