As Real As It Gets

© rumbum.com, Ted Pacelli

Dean Lavelle at Board Up Miami

We all know Disney World is “A place where dreams come true” and at SeaWorld Orlando, “It’s as real as it gets.” For five-time world wakeboard champion, Dean Lavelle, SeaWorld was a place where his dreams came true.

Dean is best known as the “Original guy of the sport.” He started skiing in SeaWorld Orlando at the young age of 18. Once he started working at the amusement park, Dean picked up the new sport of wakeboarding (mind you, these were the 80’s, so the sport was fairly new). Since Dean was able to “flip anything on water”, it was very quick and easy for him to master the exhibition for the show. He ended up learning so many tricks his co-workers suggested he become pro. His ability to master anything in water was immediately noted by wakeboarding sponsors and Dean became pro at the age of 21. His experience at SeaWorld became one that turned dreams into reality, “I loved it because it was such a great job. It was one of my dreams and wakeboarding was such a great fit because it was a lot like what I was already doing (skiing). I then ended up traveling, coaching and competing around the world.”

The 16-year vet recently won his fifth title in the Philippines not in your average wakeboarding but in cable wakeboarding. The difference between the two is that instead of pulling the rider behind a boat, the boarder is pulled by a cable system that runs around a lake usually about the size of a football field. There is no wake on a cable system and there are usually more obstacles like sliders, ramps and kickers. You might be asking, “If there is no wake, how does the rider get in the air?” Well, the rider generates load on the towline, which then launches them in the air in order to generate tricks.

Now that Lavelle’s mastered skiing, wakeboarding and cable wakeboarding, who knows what he’ll dominate next. If you’re looking to polish your skills in wakeboarding or possibly make your dreams reality, you can get personal wakeboarding lessons at the Dean Lavelle Wakeboarding School in Pompano Beach, FL.