German wonderboy Nico von Lerchenfeld wins in Cologne, upsetting fellow Liquid Force rider Shawn Watson and Keith Lidberg, who got second and third place. Von Lerchenfeld convinced the judges with two runs close to perfection. His first run included a snowboard inspired combo on the first gap, a huge melon air out of the quarterpipe and a switch toeside frontside 900 to top it off. When he hit his own signature obstacle in his second run, he did a perfectly executed backside 270 to switch noseslide and secured the win in this years OʼNeill Wake The Line edition. Shawn Watson proved to be the most consistent rider, laying down top level runs all evening including his signature move, an olé toeside 540. Third place went to Keith Lidberg, who showed excellent riding all evening but couldnʼt maintain the same consistency as his opponents.
For the wakeskating part, 13 year old Daniel Grant from Thailand amazed everyone when he first hit the course. He quickly turned from a little Asian kid into an extremely consistent wakeskating machine, putting pressure on big names such as Nick Taylor (USA) and Leo Labadens (FRA). In his final run, Grant exploded and laid down the best line of the day, topping it off with a clean heelside frontside 540. Second place went to last years winner Jan Kissmann from Germany, who got followed by Andy Kolb, also from Germany.
Johannes Degenhardt, one of the founders of Wake The Line, was extremely pleased with the result of this years edition. “I checked the weather forecast about 10 times a day the past week and we got some great support from the sunshine god”, he says. As every year the setup, organisation and riders management stepped it up a knotch and the question now is: What has UNIT Parktech got in mind for next year.

Nico von Lerchenfeld making the most out of the O’Neill Wake The Line setup. He showed us 2 of the most progressive runs of the day including a backside 270 on his signature obstacle and a switch ts fs 900 to top it off. at the end of the day, he took the well deserved win!

Style icon Shawn Watson proves again why he get´s invited to the Worlds biggest Wakeboard Event. His final runs showcased his unique approach to this one of a kind course.

3. Keith Lidberg USA

Wakeskate:
1. Daniel Grant THAI
2. Jan Kissmann GER
3. Andy Kolb GER