He has chased waves for as long as he can remember, and now East London’s Bruce Viaene, 30, has been ranked third in the world at the 2018 Waveski World Championships in Spain.
“It was quite exciting to be ranked third, but also a bit of a downer. I was up against surfers who have been training and competing for a lot longer than I have, and I guess third place means there’s room for improvement for next time,” said Viaene.
Competing in the seniors division at the week-long event at Pantin Beach in Galicia, Viaene was up against some of the top waveski warriors including Frenchman Renan Leloutre who bagged first place for the second consecutive time.
“The level of surfing around the world is super high and the French are dominating. It took a lot of work to get to this level, but finishing the world champs has shown me how much more work it will take,” said Viaene.
Despite the tough competition in the ocean, Viaene said that on land, the surfers were family, enjoying a few beers together at the end of the day.
“That’s what makes the sport really special for me – it’s full of family and even though we put up a good fight in the water, we’re all friends on land,” said Viaene.
First trying his hand on a waveski in 2001, with his sister as his coach, Viaene has delved into all kinds of water sports over the years.
“I’ve grown up around the ocean and my family was always involved in water sports so it was easy to pick up a waveski. I surf and spearfish too and riding a waveski is just another craft in the water. It’s a different way to enjoy the wave,” said Viaene.
“I stopped in 2006 when I matriculated so I could focus on other things, but I picked up the paddle again in 2016.”
The 10-year break, however, didn’t stop Viaene from dominating at the 2017 South African Championships where he was ranked number one.
“I was the surprise winner and I’ve been aiming for world champs ever since,” said Viaene, who hopes to see South African waveski paddlers dominating the world stage again.
“Waveski riding in South African is definitely on the rise and it’s exciting to be part of it. Soon it will be back at the centre of the world stage like it was in the 90s.”..