Canadian Rusty Malinoski Red-Hot Entering Kelowna Pro Wakeboard Tour Stop
Kelowna, BC – Fresh-off his first-ever victory on the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, Saskatchewan native Rusty Malinoski looks to keep things going when the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour arrives in Canada. Kelowna, BC will be the site of the Tour’s fourth stop of the season during TELUS Wakefest presented by Coors Light at Waterfront Park July 8-10.
Now in his second year on the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, Malinoski who is from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, earned his first Pro Wakeobard Tour victory June 5 at the Pro Wakeboard Tour’s Reno, Nevada event. Malinoski outlasted 40 of the world’s top riders including three head-to-head match-ups in the finals to win the event.
The win for Malinoski moves him into ninth place in the current World rankings as the Pro Wakeboard Tour heads to Kelowna. While this is a huge win for Malinoski, he will not be the highest ranked Canadian rider entering the event in Kelowna. That distinction belongs to Chad Sharpe, a Cloverdale, BC native who is currently in sixth place in the World rankings.
Sharpe is the only other Canadian to ever hold a Pro Wakeboard Tour title. Sharpe won the Abbotsford, BC Pro Wakeboard Tour event in 2000. Sharpe has been one of the most consistent riders on the Tour in 2005 with three top-10 finishes in three events.
The recent success by two of Canada’s native sons comes in a year when the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is being dominated by international riders. Australian Josh Sanders currently sits in first place in the Indmar Pro Wakeboard Tour season standings. In all, five of the top 10 places in the 2005 standings belong to riders born outside of the U.S. including: Sanders (1), Australian Daniel Watkins (3), Sharpe (6), Australian Brett Eisenhauer (7) and Malinoski (9).
This marks the fourth year the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour has been part of Wakefest in Kelowna, BC. Wakefest draws over 30,000 spectators each year, making it one of the largest action sports events in the world. This year’s action will feature the Extreme Music Series with legendary hip-hop artists, De La Soul and Canada’s own, ALEXISONFIRE.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is a weekend-long carnival of water sports action, drawing nearly 10,000 spectators. On the water the world’s best wakeboarders will be competing each day from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. But not all the action takes place on the water. On land fans will experience virtual reality rides, video games, tons of great music and food, chances to win all sorts of free stuff, and shopping at the most cutting edge stores offering water sports accessories including boats, wakeboards, wakeskates, sunglasses and the latest in wakeboarding and surfing fashions.
For fans attending a Pro Wakeboard Tour event for the first time, wakeboarding is the fastest-growing water-sport in world. It is a combination of surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and water skiing. A wakeboard looks like a fat snowboard with a pair of bindings attached to it. During competition, wakeboarders do flips and spins and other acrobatic stunts in the air and on the water -- some athletes go as high as 25 feet in the air while doing a maneuver.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is a five-event circuit organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Florida. Powered by Indmar Marine Engines, the Pro Tour has the support of the following: SeaDoo watercraft, Verizon Wireless, Perfect Pass, Hyperlite, Infinity Marine Audio, Toyo Tires, KMC Wheels, Liquid Force, Gator Boards, CWB, J - Star, O'Brien, Double-up, Billabong, Oakley, Reef, Body Glove, UGP, Epiphone Guitars, , buywake.com, Love Sac, Capix Helmets, Indo Boards, Execute, Mikker.com, Wakeworld.com, Wakeboarder.com, Monster Towers, Say I Won't, Ten-80 and One Percent Design.
Wakefest is organized by IMG Action Sports, leaders in the field of action sports. In addition to Wakefest the IMG team manages the US Open of Surfing, the Bank of the West Beach Games, The West 49 Canadian Open of Skateboarding, CrankWorx freeride mountain bike festival, SnowScene at Whistler and world renowned snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White.
