WW: So Tim, let’s get the specifics out of the way…name, rank and serial number please.
TW: Tim Walters, 25, West Coast, USA.
 
WW: Take us through an average day.
TW: Every day is different. As a Realtor, I get to do all sorts of new things each day, which is fun, but usually I answer emails and look at listings on the MLS to start. Breakfast is often a breakfast burrito, but occasionally I whip up one of “Timmy’s Famous Large Pancakes.” It is legendary… ask Jared Couch.
 
I am blessed with the opportunity to wakeboard most days. I prefer to hit the water by 10:00 am unless I have meetings in the morning. Then I grab a set in the evening. After riding, it is back to my real estate with breaks for yard work, house cleaning or a trampoline set.
 
WW: Give us some of your wakeboarding background.
TW: Growing up my family had a boat and I have loved boating and water skiing. In 1996 I got my first wakeboard for Christmas and was so eager to ride it that I had my dad run along the side of our pool with a rope pulling me. The water was 48 degrees that morning. The first time behind the boat was New Year’s Day 1997 on San Diego Bay. No wetsuit…so stoked.
 
Fast forward some years and I got a job at Mission Bay Aquatic Center as an Instructor, the youngest they had hired up to that point. In my application I put the university I was planning on attending, so they wouldn’t know I was still in high school, haha. This was when I started to really progress in wakeboarding. I got to ride a lot with an awesome crew.
 
In 2007, I joined Mike Schwenne at West Coast Camps. It was a dream I didn’t know I had that came true. The next three summers I was living on houseboats 24/7, helping to evolve wakeboard coaching and goofing off with my best friends!
 
WW: The season is pretty much done for most people. How about you? Do you mix some snowboarding in there?
TW: My wakeboard season never ends. I can’t get enough of it. Heck, I started wakeboarding in the middle of winter! Haha. I do like snowboarding though and will be taking some trips with my wife up to the snow this winter. The great thing about living in Southern California is that we can snowboard, wakeboard and surf all in the same day…and we do!
 
WW: So how did your season go? I see you did really well at the Nationals in Reno?
TW: Yeah, Nationals was awesome! I had never competed in any big competitions before last summer and I had an amazing time in Reno. Men I has such great talent, it was so rad to make it to finals. Then to make it to the podium with my buddy Trever was better than I could have hoped for!
 
WW: So any thoughts about next year’s tour?
TW: Hopefully I will ride Wake Games, Nationals or Worlds. The PWT is all about return on investment. It doesn’t quite pencil for me yet (haha). Free riding is where my heart is.
 
WW: You had a really great video put together for the Global Rider Search. Tell us how that came about?
TW: So I was interested to see where I would stand in that contest, but the most recent video I had of me riding was our 2009 WCC Coaches video that Alliance featured, so I wasn’t sure if I should use that or make something new. Basically it came down to the wire and I still had no 2010 footage, so Trever Maur came down from Nor Cal for one Saturday. We shot a morning set and an evening set. Then he drove back north and edited for a few hours before work on Monday. It was cool to give it a go and see what we could make of it. Scott Stewart’s [Global Rider Search winner] riding is insane. His video got me all pumped up to learn some new tricks!
 
WW: What’s your money trick? Anything that you are presently trying to put in the bag?
TW: Tail poke. I can’t do that enough. I have lost focus in the last year by trying to add more bangers and I really would like to just step back and work on making all my tricks look better. I like when I can mirror image my switch and regular tricks.
 
WW: You live in one of the only places to get good water in So Cal; Canyon Lake. Who do you normally ride with?
TW: Big Names.
 
WW: How does wakeboarding add to your life?
TW: Wakeboarding is all about people. I have been wakeboarding for over half my life and have met so many different people and built so many extraordinary relationships. That is the blessing of wakeboarding in my life. It is all about being with family and friends on the boat. Beyond that, it is just fun! Skimming across water, flying through the air, carving up a storm! What are you going to do, not wakeboard? You’ve got to be kidding me!
 
WW: Do you have any sponsors that help you out?
TW: Oh, my gosh! Best support ever! Adam at Liquid Force and Straightline has just gone above and beyond. It has been an awesome partnership that has brought some incredible opportunities. Brandon from Dragon has been there for years. Joey at Pacific Coast Marine keeps my boat dialed. The Judson Real Estate team is constantly exceeding my expectations! All of my sponsors provide a way for me to continue to promote our sport more and more every year!
 
WW: Anything you would like to say to finish this off?
TW: Thank you Randy Murray and David Williams for the Rider Link. Thank you to those who read it. See ya, I am going riding…