It was an epic weekend of riding over the weekend as the 2025 Canadian Wakesurf & Foiling Nationals presented by SWS Marine Group were held on Lake Koocanusa.

“We were excited to welcome over 70 riders from as far west as Vancouver Island and as far east as Ontario competing over two days,” said one of the event organizers, Loree Duczek.  “New this year was the addition of a foiling division, and with bigger divisions and more athletes taking part, it is so good to see this event continuing to grow.”

A number of East Kootenay riders participated in the event this year with several rounding out their weekend with medal winning performances.

In the Junior Boys Division, Boston Rousselle of Cranbrook took home the bronze medal, sharing the podium with Casen Taylor of Foothills, Alberta and Benson Hennessy of Victoria who took silver and gold respectively.

Siblings Edward and Amaya Anderson of Golden had podium finishes in the Amateur Divisions. Edward took gold in Amateur Male Skim, edging out Asher Snyder of Crossfield, Alberta who took silver and Max Chugg of Edmonton who took bronze.

In the Amateur Female Skim Division, Amaya battled in the Last Chance Qualifier round to advance to the finals where she laid down a strong run on her way to silver. Sharing the podium in Amateur Female Skim was Morgan Eberhardt of Chestermere, Alberta with gold and Lena Dutton of Calgary, Alberta with bronze.

In the Master’s Male Skim Division, Rob Ulrich of Chestermere, Alberta took gold, while Baynes Lake’s Jason Williamson took silver and Nelson’s Gerry Schmidtke took bronze.

Olivia Sombrowski of Fernie moved up to the competitive Outlaw Division this year and took home the bronze medal in Female Outlaw Skim, sharing the podium with Amy Gillespie of Calgary and Hayden Becker of Sylvan Lake, Alberta who took silver and gold respectively.

Fernie’s Caroline Villeneuve, who is one of the world’s most decorated wakesurfers, finished off the Nationals with the bronze medal in the Pro Women’s Skim Division sharing the podium with Bailey Rush of Ponoka who took gold and Morgan Bateman of Lacombe, Alberta who took silver.

Cranbrook’s Dagen Duczek took his second Pro Men’s Canadian Championship edging out brother Ryder who took the silver medal.  Cranbrook’s Isaac Hockley, who has been a long-time mentor of the Duczek brothers, rounded out the Pro Men’s Division with the bronze medal.

Hockley also competed in the foil division and both he and fellow competitor Jake Lamb of Kelowna entertained the crowd with big airs, attempted back flips and huge rides.

“One of the special things about this event is the way it brings families and the surf community together.  It was so good to see so many families taking part together.  From siblings in the same division, to siblings in different divisions and entire families competing, it speaks to the family nature of this sport.

“Beyond that, we had fans on shore and on the water cheering riders on, an amazing live performance from Lord Knows Band, giveaways, demo rides and all kinds of fun that added to the stoke of the weekend,” added Duczek.

“None of this would have been possible without our incredible sponsors, including our title sponsor SWS Marine Group.  The entire weekend was amazing and we want to acknowledge all the sponsors, supporters, athletes, families, friends and fans that contributed to making the 2025 Nationals such a success.”

The Canadian Wakesurf and Foiling Nationals, presented by SWS Marine Group, were held at Koocanusa Village on the shores of Lake Koocanusa September 6-7 and capped off the 2025 Canadian competitive season.

Lead image: All the riders and participants in the 2025 Canadian Wakesurf & Foiling Nationals held on Lake Koocanusa Sept. 6 and 7.  Photos by Matt Kuhn – @MkuhnPhoto

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