Sage Dayman added a junior men's national championship to his wakeboarding resume this past summer.
Dayman, 16, captured a first-place finish in the straight-line event and a third-place mark in the boat event at the Canadian Wakeboard and Straight-line Championships on Aug. 4-7 at Abbotsford, B.C.'s Valley Wake Park. The Team Saskatchewan wakeboarder earned the bronze medal out of a field of 24 competitors and the gold in a junior men's division that included the top eight professional riders under the age of 18.
“A lot of coaching and a lot of riding,” offered Dayman about how he managed to accomplish this feat. “We (Dayman and his dad Kip) usually try to go on the boat probably five times a week for a couple of hours at a time. Then when I was still in school last year before summer holidays we usually get up at five in the morning before school and go out on the water for a couple of hours.”
Dayman said he starts this practice routine in the first few weeks of May in order to get ready for a busy competition schedule that has the seven-year wakeboarding veteran travel to various meets across western Canada during the months of July and August.
After capturing a gold medal at cable provincials, Dayman scored a second first-place finish in cable at the Wake Park Westerns on July 22-23 at Winnipeg's Adrenaline Adventures. A week of practice with Team Saskatchewan at Blackstrap Lake and Emma Lake followed Westerns, which helped Dayman prepare for the national competition and the Saskatchewan Wakeboard Provincials at Saskatoon's River Landing from Aug. 19-20 where he earned a gold medal in the boat event.
In addition to his work at Boundary Dam with his father and his time spent with Team Saskatchewan, Dayman also benefits from the help of coach Dustin O'Ferrell who is based out of Kelowna. He said O'Ferrell has helped him become a more consistent rider while also teaching him a few new tricks that he has already put to use this summer.
“Tantrum to blind, so that is like a backflip and at the last second you go backside 180 so you land with the handle behind your back,” said Dayman, who was picked up by Ronix Board Co. this year for a full sponsorship including supplied boards and boots. “Then Whirlybird, he taught me that, that's backflip and you toss it over the top of your head and you spin in the air. It's kind of hard to explain.”
For a visual example of some of the tricks and the best riders in the country including the Estevan athlete, Dayman said people should check out a 2016 wake nationals video available on the Wake Canada website.
