Wakeboarder on top of the world

LIAM Dinnage, world champion.

It has a nice ring to it, not that the man himself has really had enough time to process it.

The 23-year-old from Mildura put together a stunning performance at the Nautique WWA World Championship on the Gold Coast at the weekend, claiming gold in the 19-29 years amateur men’s wakeboarding division.

After leading the way with a score of 72 in the semi-final, Dinnage threw down a superb 83 in the final to finish well clear of his opponents.

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for the emerging star, who won the Australian title back in March at Murray Bridge.

“Yeah it’s definitely different to say now, it’s not what I expected coming from the weekend,” Dinnage said of becoming world champion.

“I was really happy with my final score. My run back was definitely a lot cleaner than the way up, but I kept it all down.

“I was last off the deck so by the time I got back it was maybe about five minutes of tallying scores before we found out the result.

“I really surprised myself a lot more than anything. There wasn’t a lot of riders in our group but the boys were all good quality so to come out on top there felt pretty good.”

While moving into the professional ranks still remains a goal for Dinnage, who is also handy on a motorbike, he admits he’ll likely stay on the same path for the time being.

“It’s been a crazy 12-month period, the results have really snowballed,” he said.

“For the next couple of years I’ll probably stay on the same path, we don’t even actually have a boat at the moment, so you’re a bit dependent on people wanting to come out with you, but if I can keep this kind of form up maybe the pro circuit could be an option.

“I have to thank Baldwin Boats who helped me to get up there and Ronix Wakeboards as well. My boss also deserves a shout out, he’s looked after me and encouraged me to head up.”