On an ordinary school day you might see him around the hallways, sporting one of many Slang Co. shirts with a big ‘S’ across the front, or maybe running with the other cross-country members. But on his ideal day, sophomore Sean Weidner is out on Lewisville Lake with his Ronix wakeboard underneath him, landing the perfect Indy Tantrum to Blind.

In the beginning I pretty much had to teach myself,” Weidner said. “Nobody really taught me, I had to learn the basics.”

Weidner got his start at an early age, learning to water ski, and while flipping through a water skiing magazine he found passion in a new sport.
“I saw this guy, he was upside-down, it was in a water ski magazine,” Weidner said. “And I skied when I was a little kid, and then this guy was on a board. I didn’t know what it was. And then I started to look it up on the Internet and really get to know what that sport was. And then ever since I’ve just been into it.”
Since he was the only wakeboarder in his family, Weidner was on his own, teaching himself the basics of boarding until he could get a coach at age 10. After that, the progress came rapidly. Now, 10 years since he started, he is a sponsored boarder, who has a contract with Slang Co. and is touring and competing.
“Slang Co. [is] a team sponsor so I get to travel pretty much around the world, I’d say,” Weidner said. “I’m only in amateur tours and intermediate tours, [but] next year I should be in a couple pro-tours.”
But life isn’t all boarding for Weidner, since he has to find balance between running cross country, practicing and competing with wakeboarding, and being a student.
“Since I’m in cross country, Coach wants me to really run, but I also can’t hurt myself, so I have to not try as hard so I don’t hurt myself,” Weidner said. “And I travel a lot, so I try to balance it.”
Currently, Weidner says that every pro-boarder is his idol, and he hopes to be one of them someday.
“I would love for this to be a career,” Weidner said. “I would love to do this for a living. I don’t know what else I could see myself doing.”
Weidner’s aspirations and love for wakeboarding continue as he competes both for the competition and for the fun of it.
“Every day, when the sun sets, you’re done with your run and you just sit back and talk to your friends and just look back at what you just did,” Weidner said. “I’d say that’s my best memories.”