The heat is scorching and being outside feels like being cooked to a crisp. During these days, we, as a country, gravitate towards water. We plan beach trips with friends and enjoy some cold beer, we go to water parks and cool down, we even take multiple cold showers a day just to take the edge off brought about by the sweaty sunny days.
Making the most of your summer weekend adventures comes easy for most. You can go surfing, hiking, swimming, biking, or maybe even renting a jet ski with your friends. One sport that’s being overlooked by many is wakeboarding.
Wakeboarding for the first time, just like any other sport, may seem overwhelming. You’ve got to balance yourself and try not to sink, but aside from the basics, doing flips and spins does bring the sport into a whole new genre: extreme sports.
Someone who’s familiar with the extremeness of wakeboarding is Gelo Linao. The start of his wakeboarding journey was back when his family moved to Camarines Sur. Gelo immediately got excited about the sport. He then watched his dad get into it. They shared the excitement of watching people do flips, spins, and even “jump on and off the ramps and FLY”. That’s what pushed him to try wakeboarding for himself.
Gelo’s wakeboarding experience wasn’t perfect off the bat. He remembers almost drowning during his first time, but after garnering up the courage to get up on the board again, and land on his feet, he fell in love.
It may take some time for the average person to get the hang of wakeboarding, but accomplishing those small victories, does make you crave for more. And just like Gelo, having fun and being around his friends was his main goal for joining competitions. Now, Gelo is part of the Philippine Wakeboarding Team. Representing our motherland has brought Gelo to many places. One of his memorable feats is visiting Jordan in Western Asia to compete.
Joining a new community can be both nerve-wracking and exhilarating. A good thing about wakeboarding is the entire ritual before you actually get to the water park. You hit up your friends, make a day out of this adventure, and take a road trip to the nearest water park. Though wakeboarding is an individual type of sport, being surrounded by like-minded people creates a genuine, supportive, and inspiring community.
Gelo shares that the Philippines is the perfect country for wakeboarding. The tropical weather, affordable accommodations and food surrounding the parks and beaches, plus the free-spirited people who take the sport head on are the things that make it an ideal place for wakeboarders everywhere.
And now that it feels like 40 degrees outside, it’s time to create that summer group chat with your friends, get into the designated driver’s car, and hop on a wakeboard to try your balancing act on water! Don’t forget to embrace the fall that actually makes it a hundred times more memorable.
Take a peek into Gelo Linao’s adventures on and off the water by following him on Instagram.
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