KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - With racers as young as 13 and as touted as national champions from Mexico, Canada and the United States, the first stop of the Motosurf Games 2024 calendar ramped up amidst hot, steamy weather at Keystone Heights' Lake Geneva.

Motosurf is an array of head-to-head racing around a pyloned water course on the lake with racers advancing to the Sunday finals.
Categories of racing included Hobby, Women, Juniors and Pro with the motorized surfboards operated by a tether in the rider's hand, offered slashing passes in 180-degree turns and spectacular splashdown as athletes battled elbow to elbow at top speeds.
In one of the more competitive battles, youth racer Lukas Violette, just 11, was battling 15-year-old Hobby class champion Ryder Sawangwan and had the lead for most of the race before Sawangwan forced an error by the younger Viollete.
"I knew he was back there and coming fast," said Viollette. "I know he's fast, but I also knew his legs might be tired and if I put pressure on him to catch me, I might get lucky."
Sawangwan eventually forced the younger Viollette to miss a buoy on the final lap for the win in two categories.
16-year-old Anna Burk, a North Carolina athlete who owns the world record for a backflip on a jet ski, was in a battle for the females with World Cup Dubai winner Reanna Deveaux, from Canada with Team Canada teammate Mark Andrews (top-rated in Canada), chasing Deveaux made the blowout win for Deveaux more exciting for Deveaux.
"I had to work hard to stay in front of the young riders," said Deveaux, who is expected to compete in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China. "She is a great challenge and will only get better."
In the mens elite race, top American Antony Squire, of North Carolina, won decisively from the front in front of Andrews. Squire brought titles in the USA Nationals 2022 and 2023 and the World Championships 2023 to the Keystone Heights races and showed off his talent very quickly.
The Keystone Heights event, staged with the Airstream Ventures operation out of Jacksonville, is part of a coalition of athletic events in the north Florida area as well as nationwide that Airstream stages.
"We try to find venues for sports all around the country to highlight the area of the sport," said Operations Assistant Rick Thompson."We had a good turnout on Saturday, but Mother's Day may have kept some racers home today (Sunday)."
Thompson noted that Airstream will host a cross-country run race at the Clay County Fairgrounds.
"We moved the cycling event we had in Clay County to Lynchburg, VA," said Thompson. "We have expected a June lacrosse event at the new Clay County Recreation Park on Highway 21."
One competitor in the elite mens race, Tyler Chennault, finally got his podium finish for the weekend with a third-place finish behind Squire.
"I teach the sport in North Carolina and if had started earlier in my sports life, I would be finishing better," said Chennault, second-ranked in the USA, who started as a surfer and multiple sports high school athlete. "When I started, I couldn't afford the boards they were winning on and I just kind of competed knowing where I was going to finish. The sport has grown such that I have about 5,000 clients that I teach the sport."

By Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - With racers as young as 13 and as touted as national champions from Mexico, Canada and the United States, the first stop of the Motosurf Games 2024 calendar ramped up amidst hot, steamy weather at Keystone Heights' Lake Geneva.
Motosurf is an array of head-to-head racing around a pyloned water course on the lake with racers advancing to the Sunday finals.
Categories of racing included Hobby, Women, Juniors and Pro with the motorized surfboards operated by a tether in the rider's hand, offered slashing passes in 180-degree turns and spectacular splashdown as athletes battled elbow to elbow at top speeds.
In one of the more competitive battles, youth racer Lukas Violette, just 11, was battling 15-year-old Hobby class champion Ryder Sawangwan and had the lead for most of the race before Sawangwan forced an error by the younger Viollete.
"I knew he was back there and coming fast," said Viollette. "I know he's fast, but I also knew his legs might be tired and if I put pressure on him to catch me, I might get lucky."
Sawangwan eventually forced the younger Viollette to miss a buoy on the final lap for the win in two categories.
16-year-old Anna Burk, a North Carolina athlete who owns the world record for a backflip on a jet ski, was in a battle for the females with World Cup Dubai winner Reanna Deveaux, from Canada with Team Canada teammate Mark Andrews (top-rated in Canada), chasing Deveaux made the blowout win for Deveaux more exciting for Deveaux.
"I had to work hard to stay in front of the young riders," said Deveaux, who is expected to compete in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China. "She is a great challenge and will only get better."
In the mens elite race, top American Antony Squire, of North Carolina, won decisively from the front in front of Andrews. Squire brought titles in the USA Nationals 2022 and 2023 and the World Championships 2023 to the Keystone Heights races and showed off his talent very quickly.
The Keystone Heights event, staged with the Airstream Ventures operation out of Jacksonville, is part of a coalition of athletic events in the north Florida area as well as nationwide that Airstream stages.
"We try to find venues for sports all around the country to highlight the area of the sport," said Operations Assistant Rick Thompson."We had a good turnout on Saturday, but Mother's Day may have kept some racers home today (Sunday)."
Thompson noted that Airstream will host a cross-country run race at the Clay County Fairgrounds.
"We moved the cycling event we had in Clay County to Lynchburg, VA," said Thompson. "We have expected a June lacrosse event at the new Clay County Recreation Park on Highway 21."
One competitor in the elite mens race, Tyler Chennault, finally got his podium finish for the weekend with a third-place finish behind Squire.
"I teach the sport in North Carolina and if had started earlier in my sports life, I would be finishing better," said Chennault, second-ranked in the USA, who started as a surfer and multiple sports high school athlete. "When I started, I couldn't afford the boards they were winning on and I just kind of competed knowing where I was going to finish. The sport has grown such that I have about 5,000 clients that I teach the sport."