Competing as part of round four of the Wakeboard Victoria Championship at the Deniliquin Boat Club tomorrow will be 2018 International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) World Wakeboard Championships open women’s title winner Bec Gange.
While Gange has been all over the world competing, she is excited to compete in Deniliquin for the first time.
‘‘I was in Deni a long time ago but that was for a photo shoot for a wake magazine,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m from Mildura originally so it should be pretty similar conditions to what I’m used to, with not a lot of current.
‘‘It should be a fun couple of days and it will be cool to see a different stretch of river.’’
Being born and bred on the Murray River at Mildura, water sports have been a part of Gange’s life since she was young.
From age 11 she was skiing behind the family boat ‘Redback’, before trying her hand at wakeboarding at the age of 13 when her brother convinced her to give it a try.
‘‘I actually didn’t like wakeboarding when I first tried it,’’ Gange said.
‘‘My brother was into wakeboarding though and I slowly started doing it more and more.
‘‘I started to learn new tricks and fell in love with it.
‘‘I love to travel and continue to learn new tricks. It’s hard work to learn and there’s no better feeling than landing a new trick.
‘‘My favourite is called a Tantrum to Blind, which is a backflip with a backside 180.’’
The current world champion has won a swag of awards in the sport, with her first title being the Junior Women Australian National Championship in 2006.
Gange is the first female to land a whirlybird 540 — a heelside backflip where the wakeboarder spins 540 degrees with the handle over their head — which saw her claim the 2013 Female Indmar Trick of the Year.
She was also named the Australian best female rider of the year for 2014-2015 and won the best trick of the year for 2014-2015.
Gange claimed her first world title win in 2014, winning the World Wake Association Pro Women World Championship.
She spent more than a year off the water following knee surgery in mid-2015 to repair an anterior cruciate ligament tear, making a return during summer in the United States in 2017.
Gange’s open women’s title at the IWWF World Wakeboard Championships in Buenos Aires last year was vindication for her return from injury.
‘‘I also finished second at the WWA World Championship last year,’’ she said.
‘‘I follow summer wherever it goes, spending six months living in Australia and six months in the US.
‘‘Through the USA season we have a lot of contests back to back where there are roughly 10 to 12 contests starting in March through to September.
‘‘I’m just happy to be back out on the water and hopefully I can bring home some more title wins.’’
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