Ever dreamt of what it’d be like to win a World Title? Us too. We thought we’d flick a few questions to freshly-crowned Dropknee World Champion Sacha Specker, after he clinched the title this week at the Bodyboard Pro Festival in Venezuela.
He typed out his responses this morning in Bogota Airport, Colombia, while waiting for his flight to Mexico. His destination – Puerto Escondido. Things just keep getting better for the lovable 29-year-old Saffa.
RT: How are you feeling after your maiden World Title win? What does it mean to you?
Spex: I am super pumped on realising a lifelong dream. It hasn’t really set in properly. I think when I get back home and celebrate with family and friends it’ll set in. It’s something I always believed I could achieve, but didn’t think I would manage the first year I tried. I had amazing support from those closest to me like my girlfriend Rosy, and good friends Jerry and McCarthy who always pushed me when I thought it would be too difficult to continue and never stopped encouraging me.
Describe the moment when you knew you’d won it?
It was a surreal. I was walking up the beach and had just lost to Dubb in the final at Venezuela. I was kind of pissed, because in that moment I felt so defeated and then when they announced that I had clinched the title, the whole situation spun around 180.
How does the title win rate among your life achievements?
It’s something I’ve always had my eye on and was determined to give it a go, so I’d have to say it’s currently the biggest achievement of my life. Being able to say that I’m a World Champion means a lot to me.
What was different about this year? Did you prepare differently, were you surfing better, were you more focused etc.?
This was the first year I actually followed the DK Tour (except Peru). Previous years I only did Pipe. I feel like my competitive surfing is maybe a little better than it has been and my overall riding feels like it is well-groomed, so all in all I guess it came down to good timing and grabbing an opportunity with both hands.
You’re probably among the top few guys in the world in terms of versatility, Dropknee and prone, now that you’ve ticked off a Dropknee World Title – do you think there’s ever a chance you could do a Damian King and win a prone one too?
Realistically I cannot imagine myself topping what the top guys on the GSS are doing at the moment. Let’s just say a lot of things would have to go my way for me to clinch a prone title. I think Dubb would be the next likely person to do this.
What’s been the reaction from family and friends so far, and has there been much media interest back in South Africa?
I’ve received an awesome response from SA, family and friends have been supporting me along the way so when it came to crunch time, they were all following. I think the social media side has got a great run, that is all I can see at this point, as I’m still in transit en route to go work on the 2012 IBA Turbo Zicatela Pro.
What’s next for Spex? Aims, goals, dreams etc. for next year and beyond?
Just to try to be a part of bodyboarding. I want to contribute to the IBA as much as I can, qualify for the 2013 GSS and if I can, try to chase the DK tour in 2013. I don't like planning too far in advance, but it would be cool if all that could be on the cards.
