A young Canadian wakeboarding sensation is making a splash on the world stage.
Tuesday afternoon, 21-year-old Hunter Smith flipped, twisted and stomped his way to a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
The North Vancouverite secured his spot in the final by placing second in his heat during the qualification round on Saturday.
Going into Tuesday’s final, Smith said he was focused on his own run, not what any of the other riders were doing. At the event, riders get two passes to pull off tricks, allowing two falls before the scoring ends.
Smith’s first pass was flawless, landing every trick. On his second pass – loaded with more difficult tricks – Smith fell while attempting a heelside 720. But he got back up, and landed it, before ending his run with a switch 720.
Smith looked electric after his second run, pumping his fists as he let go of the tow rope and sank into the water.
“I was so happy to get those two in. That’s what gave me the win, that last trick – squeezing it in,” Smith said over the phone, following the lakeside medal ceremony in Santiago.
The young rider knew he had done his job, putting pressure on the rest of the athletes, but Smith had to wait for several other riders to finish before he knew where he would place.
When the results were announced – a silver medal and his first podium in an international event – Smith burst with emotion.
“I just started crying, I just started crying on the dock,” he said, welling up again. “Wakeboarding is such a small sport in Canada. I’m really, really happy. I do it for everybody back home.”
After winning the medal, Smith said he got a big hug from his parents, who travelled down to Chile to watch him compete.
The athlete, who lives in the Upper Lonsdale neighbourhood, emphasized that the podium finish is a result of a ton of hard work done over the past year.
“In March I flew to Florida and lived there for three-and-a-half months, rode every single day, ice bathed every single day, went to the gym three or four times a week – really just tried to make my competition run as good as I can, as consistent as I can,” he said. “A lot of the competitions this year, I really didn’t do as well as I hoped. I’m just happy that it all came together right now.”
The experience of being at the Pan Am Games among all the other athletes has been “unreal,” Smith added.
Following the games, Smith will travel to California to get in as much training as he can before colder weather sets in. Then, he’ll return home to work and ski through the winter until the wakeboarding season starts up again.
In July, Smith was named 2022 Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada Men’s Wake Boat Rider of the Year. In 2023, he won first prize at the Malibu Boats Rider Experience USA South in Alabama, and third at Wake the Canyon in Texas.
