WHEN DAVID O’CAOIMH left his degree in UCD to become a professional wakeboarder at 19, his parents were skeptical enough about whether it was the right decision for him.
Luckily for him, they didn’t stand in his way and now, at 23, O’Caoimh has proven his worth in the sport by becoming European champion for the last two years in a row.
At the moment, he is Ireland’s only full-time professional wakeboarder, and the Killiney native spends his year coaching, training and competing around the world.
This year alone, O’Caoimh has been to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Brazil, Chile, Dubai and America. By his estimates, he’s spent four out of the six months of 2017 abroad.
“It’s been insane. It’s taken me all over the place which is the best thing about it.”
When he caught up with The42 earlier this week, he was just back from a trip to Orlando, where he had been training with some of the sport’s elite and adding to his social media channels, which have built up a significant following in the worldwide wakeboarding community.
The financial end of professional wakeboarding relies a lot on sponsorship deals, which has led O’Caoimh to devote a lot of effort to his Instagram and YouTube accounts, which have grown with his success.
“I was in the cable park [in Orlando] and I was putting on my boots, and this 25-year-old man came up to me and he was fan-girling. It was actually so cool. It’s really nice to meet the people who watch the videos.”
O’Caoimh’s rise since turning pro has been relatively quick, but his long-term goals in the sport aren’t set in stone.
“I’m quite a simple person in that respect. I’d like to try to build some financial stability behind it so that when I’m 30 I’m not stuck. I don’t see any competition or any one thing as my goal. I’m just looking at the big picture and when that’s going well, I’m happy.”
With the inclusion of skateboarding and surfing in the 2020 Olympics, O’Caoimh and many other wakeboarders are hopeful that their sport will some day be added to the bill and would like to see its inclusion as early as the 2024 Olympics.
According to O’Caoimh, even if it’s not included, “it’s not the end of the world”, as the sport itself is growing steadily at the moment without places on an Olympic team to aim for.
“People are loving it and, at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.”
