Melissa Colborne: south korea

On the 23rd of August i left to South Korea along with the rest of the South African team. After 3 flights, 2 train trips and a bus ride, we finally arrived at the Lotte Hotel.We competed at the IWWF world wakeboarding champs in Busan. We ended up coming 12th out of 29 countries which we were happy with. My wakeboarding didn’t go too well unfortunately but the experience that i got from this trip means more to me. I met so many amazing people. A lot of them I knew by name, but I finally got to meet them in person. Watching top class wakeboarders from all around the world has really motivated me to push myself even harder. I also met and spent a bit of time with a fellow Roxy wakeboarder, Larisa from mexico. I look forward to meeting up with her again, either in SA or over in Mexico.

Besides the wakeboarding, we also did some touristy things. We went to watch a baseball game at a huge stadium in Busan. This was very interesting and definitely not your average sports event. . There is so much entertainment going on that no one really even watches the game. We also did some shopping which was not very successful, but it was awesome to see some of the city.

Our team, as well as all the other teams competing, stayed in the Lotte hotel. It is a 5 star hotel in the middle of the city. It was super fancy and probably not the right choice for a bunch of wakeboarders. There was even a driving range in the hotel. The hotel was not too far from the competition site and everyday shuttles were organised to lift us. Before the competition, we all got to have a practice run behind the boat so that we knew what the wake was going to be like.The food in Korea is very different to what we eat back home but it was an eperience to try it all. They are very big on their barbeques which are wayyyy different to ours.

Thanks to the entire team as well as Laurence and Tich for the amazing experience, and a huge thanks to my sponsors Roxy and Liquid Force for the support and making it possible.