Following a dream season in 1997, World and X Games champion Jeremy Kovak had everything going for him. The Canadian's immigration problems, and subsequent loss of three months of training, leading up to the 1998 season seemed to be no more than a minor speed bump on the road to more wins. It seemed like nothing could stop this determined wakeboarding force. Kovak pushed himself twice as hard in preparation for the first stop of the Pro Tour to make up for the lost time. That's when it happened.

Jeremy Kovak (photo: Iconn Sports)

A knee injury took Kovak out of the running for a good part of the 1998 season. A decision to forego surgery and a premature comeback attempt to defend his X Games championship compounded the injury to his knee. This time Kovak would have to go under the knife to repair massive damage. It seemed like a return to competitive wakeboarding for the 1999 season was a long way off.

Although a rarity, there have been others that have clawed there way back from potentially career-ending injuries. The names of Darin Shapiro and Zane Schwenk would have to be Kovak's inspiration. Although his knee was close to being 100% at the start of the 1999 season, Kovak sat out the first half of the Pro Tour in order to prepare himself mentally and work on his conditioning.

When Kovak finally did begin his comeback, his failure to qualify for the quarterfinals in his first two tournaments had a lot of people writing him off. Perhaps this made him even more determined when approaching the next tour stop in his home country. When all was said and done that weekend, Kovak sat at the top of the standings. Current world champion Shaun Murray said it best when he remarked to Kovak after the event, "You blew us all away out there today!"

Unfortunately, another knee injury, unrelated to and less serious than the first, sidelined Kovak as quickly as he made his comeback. WakeWorld talked with Jeremy just days after his latest injury and he spoke at length about his career's roller coaster ride, the current state of the sport and much more. I give you the Jeremy Kovak interview…

WW: When and where were you born?
JK: November 11, 1973 in Dunnville Ontario Canada.

WW: Where do you live now?
JK: West Palm Beach, Florida in the winter & Millgrove, Ontario in the summer.

WW: When did you start skiing and when did you start concentrating on wakeboarding?
JK: I started skiing when I was 4 years old and started wakeboarding when I was 19 years old in 1993.

WW: You've been splitting time between the U.S. and Canada. Where do you see yourself living full time eventually?
JK: Not sure. I think I will always bounce back and forth.

Jeremy Kovak (photo: Iconn Sports)

WW: How did you get hooked up with Iconn?
JK: I'm good friends with Matt Connelly and when he started Iconn, he hooked me up.

WW: How do you like riding for them?
JK: I love it. I don't feel that I'm riding for a boss. I feel like I'm riding with a friend and can do whatever I want.

WW: Did you sign a new contract with them?
JK: I will sign a new contract with Iconn in the fall and I would like it to be for 2 or 3 years

WW: Tell us about your wakeboarding set up; Board, boots, fins, handle, rope length, boat speed.
JK: I ride something similar to Iconn's Best board. It's a new board that we're working on. My boots are Blind Wraps, fins are 2.5" Kovak Rainbows, Accurate ropes and handles (70 feet long) and 21 MPH.

WW: What about the Kovak board?
JK: They're going to be doing a whole new board for me this year and I think it's going to be a great board. It's going to be totally different.

WW: So it's similar to the shape of the Best?
JK: Yeah, but the the tip and tail are different. It's got a fish tail and I'm gonna use the Shaun Murray fin thing on the bottom. So it's different, but also similar.

WW: The Shaun Murray fin thing, like the built in fins?
JK: Yeah did you see those? I want those in my board, I think that they'd work well, not that I've tried them. I just think they would work really good.

WW: What do you mean by fish tail?
JK: How do I say it, its a tip and tail with 3 little bumps,

WW: So like a bat tail?
JK: Yeah, the middle bump is a bit bigger then the two on the side.

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