Riding a Wake: the Russian Who Conquered a US Sport

Russians are talented athletes. It’s not for nothing that the country leaves each Olympics as a leader in the medal standings. At the same time, there are sports that are considered not Russian at all. You've hardly heard of Russians playing baseball or surfing the waves. Although in fact, the sports talents of people from post-Soviet countries extend even into these areas.

Photo from the personal archive of Ekaterina Kuznetsova

A native of St. Petersburg, Ekaterina Kuznetsova is a star of a traditionally American sport. Her collection includes dozens of medals, victories and prizes at prestigious international wakesurfing tournaments (accelerating on a board behind a towing boat, and then freely conquering the waves). Her merits in this sport are so high that Ekaterina was appointed secretary (essentially, assistant to the president) of the American Competitive Wakesurfing Association (CWSA). Kuznetsova is the first Russian-speaking athlete to hold this position.

In her interview with ForumDaily Ms Kuznetsova told us about her journey to success and pursuit of her lifelong dream.

Love for sports is forever

Ekaterina fell in love with sport from early childhood: at 4 years old she started taking artistic gymnastics classes. Then there was swimming, tennis and equestrian sport. She excelled at them and she enjoyed it, but was not ready to fully devote herself to any of these sports. It was partly because she couldn’t find the right coach and her gut feeling was telling her that this was not what she really wanted.

The girl received a higher education (philology and economics), worked for an international company, wrote a dissertation, for which she even visited the USA - she needed materials from the Los Angeles library. But her love for sports haunted her.

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After finishing her dissertation, Kuznetsova returned to Russia and got a job with the organizing committee of the Olympic Games. She was involved in inspecting Olympic venues, as well as organizing the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. According to Ekaterina, the closing ceremony of the Olympics was a great success, but after it ended, the girl felt emptiness - one of the brightest projects of her life had ended. And then sport saved her again - Moscow friends invited Ekaterina to the river to wakeboard.

“That was in 2014. I remember there was an unusually warm April in Moscow, so I was glad to venture out to get some fresh air on the river. At that time I didn’t even have my own wetsuit. That very day I managed to get up on the board and ride, though of course, I fell off it several times in the process. However, my friends were quite surprised. They said almost no one could ride a board right from the start, so they became convinced: I shouldn’t give up on this sport,” Ekaterina recalls.

She didn't quit. And it wasn't just the advice of friends. Wakesurfing, a beautiful but difficult sport, combined everything that Ekaterina already knew, could do and loved. It required the concentration and quick reaction of a tennis player, the grace of a gymnast and the ability to maintain the balance that horsewomen possess. Ekaterina Kuznetsova had all this, and she quickly realized that wakesurfing was exactly what she needed.

Photo from the personal archive of Ekaterina Kuznetsova

Conquering Europe

First several years she actively practiced wake surfing, but couldn’t see herself going professional. Training sessions and competitions were more of a recreation activity than work. In 2015 she competed in several tournaments and subsequently went to the US along with her friends to train.

“At the time it was just a fun trip with friends to unbelievably picturesque lakes and canyons in Arizona. The feeling was incredible as though I had landed on a different planet. We shared accommodations, talked about wake surfing and were getting ready for the World Championship together. I didn’t expect I would be offered to participate in it,” Ekaterina says.

At her first world championship, Ekaterina did not take prizes. It was probably due to the fact that participation in the competition came as a surprise to her. Training for fun and training to win a competition are two different things.

But after this championship, Ekaterina finally made up her mind - she wants to connect her professional life with wakesurfing. No sooner said than done! Since 2018, Kuznetsova has regularly won international competitions. In particular, she took first place among women at the European Wakesurfing Championships held in France in 2018. The following year, at the championship in Kyiv, she won medals for second and third places in different categories, and in 2021, Ekaterina achieved championship at the Ingrad Wake Surf Championship. And these are just some of her victories.

International acclaim

The essence of wakesurfing is that for some time the athlete rides along the waves behind a boat, holding on to a rope. Then - after releasing the rope - the participant must ride the wave and perform various tricks. Due to the “tiedness” to the boat at the initial stage, wakesurfing is not included in the Olympic sports, and the United States remains the main country of its distribution. It was in the USA that the Competitive Wakesurfing Association (CWSA) was created, which is actively involved in the development of this sport around the world.

In 2020, Ekaterina Kuznetsova was appointed the Secretary of the CWSA. She was the first foreigner awarded that privilege. The position also meant she became a Board Member of the CWSA and had the right to be the Head Judge during the World Wake Surfing Championship and other tournaments. Ekaretina judged multiple competitions: she was the Co-Head Judge at 2020 and 2021 World Championships, and was part of the Judges Team at the Europe Championship in 2020. In total her experience as a judge adds up to over 50 events, including INGRAD Moscow WakeSurf Cup in 2021; and Waketime Open Championship.

Photo from the personal archive of Ekaterina Kuznetsova

In addition, in 2019, Ekaterina became a sponsored rider of Phase5Boards, the world’s leading company in the production of wakesurfing boards and equipment. Here Kuznetsova is also the first and only one; there are no other representatives of Russia on the list of sponsored Phase5Boards riders.

Having gained world success and recognition, Ekaterina is not planning to stop there. She keeps on working hard developing her sport career, and dreams about becoming the world champion someday. She will surely succeed, given the titles she has already won:

• 2016 - US Open (1st place in the category “Amateur Female Skim”)
• 2019 — Kyiv City Swell Open Wake Surf Championship (2nd place in the “Outlaw Female Skim” category and third place in the “Outlaw Female-Surf” category);
• 2019 - WRS (World Ranking System) CWSA King of Wakesurf Italian Open (2nd place in the “Outlaw Female Skim” category);
• 2019 - All-Russian Championship (1st place among professional women);
• 2021 - Ingrad Wake Surf Championship (1st place in the “Masters Female Skim” category);
• four-time European champion (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021);
• 2021 - Russian Championship (second place among professional women);
• 2021 - World Championship (bronze in the category “Masters Female Skim”).

Another dream of Ekaterina is to open her wake surfing school in Los Angeles.

“It will serve as a competition platform where we’ll be able to invite athletes from all over the world,” Ekaterina shares.

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Wakesurfing is one of the safest sports, and even children and the elderly can practice it. The main thing is a good coach, and Ekaterina intends to gather just such people in her school.

“Beginners are mostly afraid of boat proximity. We are riding very close to it indeed, but despite common fears, an injury is more likely to be inflicted due to the risk of being struck by the board. Thus, it is important not to skimp on hiring a good coach, who can teach you to stand on a board and even do jumps, right from the start. It is true that wake surfing is not a cheap sport, counting the price for a boat and fuel. Often people spend more on it than they earn. Nevertheless, it is becoming exceedingly popular. New subsidiaries of the CWSA are opening in Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Europe,” Ekaterina recounts.

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