KSUSA caught up with Evan Odom, KSUSA Junior Champion, at the Board Swap-Slide Show on August 6th. Here’s a brief update on what he had been up to.
KSUSA
Hey Evan, welcome home from your first year of college. Could you remind us which college you are attending and how that first year worked out for you?
Evan
Sure. I’m attending Marietta College which is in southeast Ohio about 10 miles away from West Virginia. It went great and I finished out the year with a pretty good GPA. I was on the 1st Varsity Eight on our Rowing Team and we finished up ranked 45th in the Country, and we finished the year out being 12th in the Varsity Four which is something special in that our school hasn’t been able to do for a long time.
KSUSA
Congratulations. Being a young man who grew up near the ocean what was it liked being landlocked during the middle of the winter?
Evan
It was definitely a different experience waking up some mornings, going outside and there’d be a foot of snow on the ground. You’d have to go back inside and put a pair of boots on along with long pants and then you’d have to go do your day. It was definitely an adjustment, but the days you’d get a little discouraged you’d just keep your head up because you knew that eventually you’d get a new snow and it would be absolutely gorgeous. You’d almost forget about how cold some of those mornings were and how dark it was at 4 in the afternoon. It was definitely a different experience.
KSUSA
How much daydreaming of surfing did you do during those dark days of winter?
Evan
Definitely during the winter, after the first snow when it started to get dark earlier, I would turn on Surfline and just go straight to Pipeline and pretty much just keep that on, or keep any contest going. That’s how I would daydream, I’d actually watch in happening right in front of me.
KSUSA
Since you’ve been home tell us about your best session so far this summer
Evan
It would probably have to be a day I went out at Churches, a little south of Lowers. I was out with my sister and my dad and I don’t know, it was just one of those really fun swells and I just had one of the best sessions honestly, that I’ve ever had. I pushed my level more in that day than I probably had in the entire winter when I was home. It was definitely something unique and I wish it would happen much more often for me!
KSUSA
I understand your training has also continued into the summer. How has that been going for you?
Evan
It’s had its ups and downs, but it started off really well. I took a couple of weeks off to let my body and mind relax because it gets really intense toward the end of the year. I pretty much came back with the same amount of fitness and then, unfortunately, I injured myself on the 4th of July. That was a little bit of a bummer because I had to take a couple of weeks off that I wasn’t planning on. So, I did lose a lot of base fitness but I just got back, and I’ve been moving up pretty consistently, getting back to where I was. So I’m happy with how the summer has gone. I’ve talked with my coaches and they’re also happy with how the summer’s gone. Everything is looking good!
KSUSA
In the Fall of 2017 the Kneeboard Surfing World Titles will be held in Cantabria, Spain. Are you willing to predict the Champion?
Evan
Well my personal bias will always be, at least on the Flashpoint Team, to see Sparrow up on top again. I think that he’s probably one of the best guys ever, the flow and style that he has. I’d also like to see Kyle up there, at least up on the podium somewhere. And I would also like to see Chayne win his first World Championship. That’d be pretty cool because when it comes to kneeboarding Chayne’s pretty much one of the most well-known guys outside of the kneeboarding community. So it would be good to see him become part of something even bigger.
KSUSA
Thank you Evan!
