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1.) State your full name, where you live , how old are you?
Keenan Flegel, 18 years old, Deerfield Beach, Florida
2.) How long have you been wakesurfing and what got you into the sport?
My wakeboarding career peaked around 9 years old and then I started wake surfing. I didn’t like wakeboarding because the bindings made my feet hurt, ha ha, tried wakesurfing one day and my feet have felt great ever since.
3.) You ride both a surf/skim and have won in both divisions. How do you feel about that, was it a goal along?
I started out with skim because that’s what I was exposed to. When I started seeing surf style at the competitions I figured I would do that to. It has been a goal of mine to win worlds in both divisions. That stupid skimboard keeps tripping me up! ha ha
4.) A lot of water boarders now days are doing skate style tricks with out actually skateboarding.  Are you one of those boarders?
I can skate, but I can do more tricks on my skimboard than my skateboard. That being said skateboarding has had a limited influence on my riding until this point. Recently I’ve been taking it back to the wakeskate to practice some kick-flips.
 5.) You put time in the ocean surfing. How has that influenced your style? Do feel style matters in wakesurfing?
Style is the single most important part of wakesurfing. You can land all the tricks, but if you don’t have a good style you’re still going to look like a kook. Ocean surfing is by far the biggest influence on my riding.
6.) Any one moment this year that you felt really stood out and was memorable. Was it a trick, an event, what was it?
I had a lot of incredible experiences this season. A defining moment for me was the pro skim finals at the Calabogie competition in Canada. I watched Drew Daniello stomp a perfect run right in front of me before I rode and I was able to follow it with a near perfect run of my own to edge him out. It was fun to have a final where we both rode our best.
7.) Any plans for some surf trips or are you just focused on staying behind the boat since the competitive season is over?
Headed to Santa Cruz next week after I take care of some wake surf business. I try to squeeze in a surf trip when ever I can but I definitely plan to ride through the whole off season.
8.) We know you just came out with a New Pro Model Skim with Inland Surfer. Does that mean you are now just gonna focus on skim?
I am definitely stoked on my new skim board, but prototype #1 for my new surf style board is in line to get glassed. 🙂
9.) What would you like to see in the future of wakesurfing, railslides, kickflips, new events? Do you like this new online video format where people vote for the best rider in a contest?
We are all anxiously waiting for a legit kickflip. I would like to see some competitions with people riding on both sides of the boat. Maybe even some spines, transfers, ect. Also I would like to see all the boat companies keep doing what they’re doing to bring us bigger waves. Maybe we’ll be getting barreled soon, haha. The whole video contest thing is cool in some ways but definitely has its downfalls. Wakesurfing is still a relatively small community so those competitions will inevitably become a popularity contest instead of a true gauge of talent.
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