Podium for Andrea Fountain in Enghein les Bains
21st June 2006

15,000 people gathered on the opening day of the 2nd Stop of the 2006 WWC World Wakeboard Cup in Enghien les Bains, Paris. The weather was perfect, 29C and no wind.

29 athletes in total, including 10 of the top women riders competing for the prize money, it was going to be a challenge getting onto the podium. WWC World Wakeboard Champion Andrea Fountain made it through the quarter finals beating out Amber Wing from Australia, the heat was packed with top riders Sunni-Ann Ball, Moscow World Cup winner in 2005 and Meaghan Major from USA who finished 3rd at the first stop in Doha, Qatar.

The Semi finals were on the same day, late in the afternoon. The conditions were less than desirable, although there wan’t any wind, it was a shallow and rolly course. The shallowness makes for a small wake and the rollers mean that the wake is not a constant size or shape.

In Andrea’s heat for the semi-final there was Meaghan Major and Denise Dehann from Holland, 3rd place at the WWC Worlds in Russia last year.

Managing to complete her pass with near perfection, Andrea grabbed a huge heelside 360, landing a huge front roll and other large and clean inverts gave her the points to get 2nd in the heat and progress to the 4 girl Final on Sunday.

“This was one of my best rides in competition, feeling more comfortable with the wake I did all that I could with the conditions and was relieved and excited to make it through to the finals”

Sunday, and the final round was definately the hardest Andrea had come up against in any World Cup stop. Emily Copeland-Durham from the USA, 1st place in last years World Cup Stop in Singapore, Meaghan Major and Sunni-Ann Ball from Canada. Seeded last in the heat meant Andrea was First off the dock which she saw as a positive.

“First off the dock is a good place to be, you haven’t watched anyone else ride, so you go out there and lay down the tricks you can do, the nerves aren’t as high as if I had perhaps watched the other 3 girls stomp their passes! Also, the water is calmer than later in the heat”

Her first pass was clean, although perhaps not getting in as many tricks as she would have liked, because of the rollers, she landed big and clean tantrum, scarecrow and heelside 360 which was a big point scorer with the judges as none of the other girls did a full rotation. The second pass was solid, just falling at the end of her second pass on a front roll.

Emily Copeland-Durham managed to pull off a wrapped KGB, but fell twice due to the conditions, and Meaghan stomped a clean ride until a fall at the end on a tantrum to blind, which she landed the day before in the semi’s. Sunni also had a fairly good pass, with a blind 180 and a her usual inverts.

Meaghan Major managed to pull just in front with first place, Andrea Fountain 2nd and Sunni in 3rd and Emily in 4th. Fellow New Zealander Jeff Weatherall came in 2nd place in Pro Men also.

Andrea said of her win and time in France….

“These events are prestigious and to make the top four was a great achievement for me. This 2nd place will also benefit my overall points on the tour. The crowd was amazing, so enthusiastic to have us here in their home town of Enghien les Bains, I will definately be looking forward to coming back to France for this stop next year!”

Following this event, Andrea is continuing on to China this weekend where the 3rd World Cup Stop is being held. Press release will follow after the event.