Peoria hosts its first Competitive Wake Surf Association World Championships

Bentlee Shafer has always loved the water.

She was crawling onto waterboards and enjoying water sports by the time she was 4 years old. She learned to wake surf before reaching 10 years old.

Wakesurfing stems from water skiing — think snowboarding on water. Shafer might argue it’s a cooler version of water skiing.

Around that time she took up the sport, and Shafer was taking a surf lesson at Lake Pleasant and her coach suggested she try competing in an upcoming competition.

“I did it and immediately I was hooked. I’ve been competing ever since,” she said. “I love everything about being on the water, whether it’s surfing in the ocean or behind a boat at Lake Pleasant."

Now the Mountain Ridge High School fresh

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