Dallas Friday (Pic: Kelly Kingman)
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WW: You've only been wakeboarding for about a year and a half. How have you managed to get so good so quick?
DF: Well, a lot of hard practice. Plus I think gymnastics was a big help because it gave me an awareness of where I am in the air.
WW: You were a gymnast before you started wakeboarding. How long did you do that for?
DF: I did gymnastics for about 5 years and stopped in May of 2000.
WW: Did you do it competitively?
DF: Yes.
WW: How hard did you train as a gymnast?
DF: When I was a gymnast I trained very hard. We were disciplined. We practiced five times, sometimes six times, a week from 3:30 till 9:00 but I enjoyed it all.
WW: How successful were you?
DF: I was successful in gym. I was second in the state of Florida in All-Around and was the Southeast Regional Floor Champion in 1998.
WW: Why did you stop?
DF: The reason I stopped gymnastics was because I did it for five years. I think I was burned out and wanted to try something new. I didn't want to miss out on something. I guess that something was wakeboarding. But I'm glad I did gymnastics for that long. It has helped me so much in life.
WW: What has translated from gymnastics and given you an advantage in wakeboarding?
DF: Well, my advantage from doing gymnastics is my air sense. When I started trying to do flips, I caught on right away 'cause I knew where I was in the air.
Dallas Friday (Pic: Lloyd Murray)
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WW: I've heard that you train twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Is that true?
DF: (Lots of laughter) No, I don't train 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. That would be insane! I try to ride every day after school during the school year. I usually only ride two sets a day, but in the summer I go to the lake around 10:00 and I'll be there all day till 6:00 wakeboarding and riding the cable!
WW: What does your training consist of?
DF: Well, my training consists of riding every day, being hard on myself, staying in shape, eating right, getting enough sleep and making sure I'm always having fun.
WW: As a pro athlete, do you feel that you're missing out on any "normal" 14-year-old stuff?
DF: Well, being 14, I do miss out on a lot of things like parties, movies and dances, but I am very lucky to have this ability to be a professional athlete. Therefore, it doesn't bother me that I miss out on some stuff.
WW: I was going to ask what you do when you're not wakeboarding, but it sounds like you only have time to sleep. Is there time for anything else?
DF: Yes, there is plenty of time for things other than wakeboarding. On weekends I always go out with my friends either to the beach or mall, movies, stuff like that. But I always make sure I'm not only just wakeboarding.
Dallas Friday (Pic: Richmond Gibbs)
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WW: Do you have any other hobbies besides wakeboarding?
DF: Not really a lot of time to do other sports. Once I'm in high school I want to try and fit in track. If it wouldn't fit in then I guess I'll just do wakeboarding. I'd like to do two sports at once, but it's sort of hard.
WW: You have some interesting pets. Tell me about those.
DF: I have a snake, dog, and bird. The snake is a Ball Python and we've had it forever. I think my dad hatched it because my dad's like an animal marine biologist type person. Otis is my dog and he is a Portuguese Water dog. He can go thirty feet under water. They're really rare though. You can't really get them in the United States. I don't even know how my dad got the dog. The bird is an Umbrella Cockatoo.
WW: Does the bird talk?
DF: Yes, talks and screams. Does it all.
WW: How big is the python?
DF: Six feet.
WW: You ever let that one lose in the house?
DF: It got lost in the house once for a month, and then my grandmother came down from North Carolina and she saw it. She flipped out and then we found it.
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