By: Marissa Foglia
After hopping on board the Pro Tour at the age of 18, the oh-so-lovely Professional Wakeboarder and World Champion Wakeskater Austin Hair has built himself quite an impressive resume. His ever-growing list of championship titles certainly gives him well-earned bragging rights.
This Cali-born rider grew up in South Carolina, and steadily made his way to Orlando, Florida, after high school. He has since stayed busy globetrotting along the waterways of the world, leaving a trail of, for lack of a better word, awesomeness, in his path!
I caught up with this self-proclaimed workaholic after his recent return from the World Series in Abu Dhabi…an apparent favorite playground among many of the riders who made the voyage across the world. Check out what Austin had to say about this, that, and the other.
Photo courtesy of austinhair.net
On The Water
Q. What’s behind your involvement of getting aspiring riders to move to Orlando and helping them find a place on the water? What brought that about? Sounds pretty cool.
A. Well, originally I was put in charge of a house on the water. I was really worried about finding roommates to help with the rent, but I found out that it wasn’t as hard as I thought. As the word got out, more and more kids came to me about a place to live. Now, I’m good friends with people who own a house on Lake Jessamine. So I help them out, and I help out other kids who want to come move to Orlando to follow their dreams. That house goes back up for rent in July, actually.
Q. How did you spend the “winter” months, and what do you have coming up in 2010?
A. I spent part of the winter back home in SC with good friends and family. I spent the other part in the warm climate of Australia, riding and doing a couple of contests. Next, I’ll go to Brazil twice before the tour starts. Once for a demo/film shoot, and another time for a World Series.
Q. Did you experience anything that blew you away when you were in Abu Dhabi?
A. The amount of money over there blew me away. I mean, the average Emirates citizen is worth $4 million USD. I’ve never seen so many porches in my life.
Off The Water
Q. Have you spent time on the golf course? If so, what’s your take on “extreme” pro athletes using golf as a way to kind of unwind and relax in their free time?
A. I think its awesome. Danny Harf is pretty amazing at golf. I love to play as well. I took lessons all throughout elementary and middle school, before I got into wakeboarding. Now, I love to go smack some balls.
Randoms (a.k.a. Me Being Nosey)
Q. What’s on your ipod right now that people wouldn’t expect?
A. A lot of motivational tapes and educational series…haha. I’m a bit of a nerd, too.
Q. Notorious B.I.G. or Tupac?
A. Tupac fo’ sho.
Q. List 3 things that you simply cannot live without.
A. Food, water, air. But seriously, adrenaline rushes, my faith, and great relationships with people.
Q. Star Trek or Star Wars?
A. Star Wars. Never really got into Star Trek.
Q. What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
A. Mostly really healthy food, low sodium turkey slices, soy milk, strawberries, yogurt…I’m a bit of a health nut when I’m not traveling.
Q. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
A. Superman for sure. You can’t beat him. He’s invisible, handsome, tall dark features, and he flies.
And surely the most important question of all…
Q. If you find a spider in your house, do you kill it or let it wander on?
A. I usually try and get it to bite me, hoping that he’s radioactive, and in turn my DNA will combine with its, allowing me to gain spider-like powers.
At least he has his priorities straight. Now that’s a good guy!
Check out Austin’s website www.austinhair.net and be sure to stay locked into www.dbot5.com for more fun interviews with some of the planet’s most entertaining athletes!
Camp of ChampionsLook at how much fun you missed up on the glacier this summer.
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