Teen gears up for cable wakeboarding nationals

Sam Rozputynski, 17, is hoping to do well at his home cable park

A 17-year-old from Devon is preparing to compete in the UK Cable Wakeboard Championships.

On 30 and 31 August, Sam Rozputynski will take on competitors at his home park for the first time – North Devon Wake Park near Bideford.

"It's so great to have it here," he said. "Every nationals I've done, we've always had to travel four or five hours minimum just to get to the event."

Cable wakeboarding involves being pulled around a large rectangular course with help of overhead cables, hitting jumps and rails to perform tricks.

Sam Rozputynski is excited to compete at his home park

"There's loads of jumps and [we] do tricks off the jumps – spins, flips," Sam said. "There's rails as well, like skateboarding."

Fresh off a two-week stint at the European Championships in Poland, Sam is optimistic about his chances.

"I didn't qualify, but I still had the best time," he said. "I've been practising my run a lot, and I'm just hoping I do really well."

When he's not wakeboarding, Sam works as an apprentice bricklayer.

He said his colleagues "don't really know much" about his hobby.