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NORTH OGDEN — Since he could walk, Jordan Wayment could swim.
Wayment grew up swimming and boating, evenutally joining the swim team, becoming a lifeguard, competing in wakeboarding, getting a boater’s captain license and, last weekend, competing in the Flyboard World Championships in the State of Qatar.
“(My parents) didn’t want me afraid of water,” Wayment said. “My parents’ fear of me being scared of water backfired on them because then I started getting into wakeboarding, waterskiing, jumping off large cliffs at Lake Powell; I got too comfortable in water.”
Flyboards, invented in 2011, are a watercraft manned by a single rider. The craft is basically a board attached to a powered hose and jet boots, controlled by a handheld ignition device. Riders can perform jumps, flips and other tricks atop the board.
Wayment first learned of flyboards at the Utah Boat Show, at which Rocky Mountain Flyboard presented. He immediately went to the company’s booth and told the owners he wanted to work for them. Wayment started working in February for the company and got on a flyboard for the first time in April and has ridden nearly every day since.
“You get to fly. All the power of a Jet Ski is at your feet and you’re in control,” Wayment said. “When you’re in control of that much power, it’s a feeling that’s hard to describe. It’s limitless of what you can do.”
Over the weekend, he competed as the only Utahn in the Flyboard World Championships, winning a trophy for showmanship among 77 competitors.
The competition, Wayment said, was friendly and exciting due to the novelty of the sport. In contrast to other sport competitions that are more established and serious, when somebody performed a new trick, other competitors would celebrate and get excited to try the trick next.
“Everyone in this contest, before the runs, after the runs, everyone was giving hugs and high-fives,” Wayment said. “We want this sport to grow, so everyone is always trying to teach each other different tricks and give people tips on how to do better. It wasn’t an angry competition at all. That’s what I loved about it the most.”
