A Cranbrook wakeboarder is hoping to continue riding his recent wave of success at the 2017 Canadian Wakeboard National Championship this weekend.
Colden Thompson, who trains at Tie Lake near Jaffray, will be participating in the Men 1 category at the Spray Lake, Ontario competition after earning back-to-back victories in his only two competitions of the season.
The 20-year-old is making the jump up to the men’s division this year, having previously participated in the junior category at Nationals in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Throughout his three years as a junior, he earned bronze, silver and gold medals in successive years.
“I won last year, but I’m moving up to the men’s [so] that will be harder competition,” Thompson said. “I just have to ride my best and hope to get on the podium.”
The National Championships go from Saturday, August 19 to Tuesday, August 22. The following weekend, Thompson will be participating in the Nautique WWA Wakeboard World Championships which will take place in Toronto from August 25 to 28 at the CNE waterfront during the Canadian National Exhibition.
Thompson made his international professional debut last year — in May, 2016 — at a competition in Las Vegas in which he finished in fifth place.