Chris Waters: Wakeboarding Competitor

Since the age of 15, Senior Chris Waters has been competing in wakeboarding competitions. Growing up in St. Petersburg has allowed him to practice and train for his passion. Waters chose USF because the location is close enough to home so he is able to visit his family and be around the water whenever he needs to get away from campus. “USF is a big school with a lot of different types of people. There are also many different things to do and ways to get involved,” Waters said. His favorite thing about Tampa is that regardless of what you are interested in, anyone can find something to do.

Once coming to the University of South Florida, Waters realized that he wanted to continue his passion alongside others on campus. “Wakeboarding is a love of mine, and it brings great pride to be able to share the sport with many different people,” Waters said. With his brother Bill Waters being the president in the wakeboarding club at the time, he decided to join the organization. Now, for the past two years, Waters has been running the USF Wakeboard club as president. Currently, it is the largest on-campus student organization with the number of members continuously growing.

When Waters was only a freshman in high school, he began riding and perfecting his skills. Eventually, by riding well in contests people began to recognize Waters and he soon started receiving sponsorships from companies.

This past April of 2011 the USF wakeboarding team won the opportunity to travel to California for the Collegiate Wakeboard Nationals. After being one of the 16 finalists in the competition, Waters and his team came out victorious winning the entire championship and bragging rights.

“Winning has let me know that you can achieve anything you set your mind to with hard work,” Waters explained. By describing himself as one who always tries to look on the brighter side and try new things, you can see how he has come so far with his success. After winning the competition, he feels as though he has accomplished one of his lifelong goals. “I want to be known as a hardworking individual that strives for the best in everything I do,” Waters said. With his parents being his biggest influence in life because they are both strong individuals and live the right way in Waters’ opinion, you can see where he gets his ambitious drive.

Waters’ plans after college include traveling the world wakeboarding to see how far he can get. After having some fun and time off, he plans to settle into the working field, utilizing his major in business finance and marketing. He felt as if this major would be the perfect fit because, “Marketing is the creative side of business, so I can express my creativity. Finance is what makes the business world go round.”  Before he dies, Waters simply said he wants to live the ‘American Dream.’ Proving as successful as he has already been, this wish shouldn’t be too hard to fulfill.