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Evelyn's not like other girls. While most of the other female wakeboarders are still working on high school diplomas, Evelyn, at 26, is an elder on the pro circuit. She doesn't have a boat sponsor, or even own a boat for that matter. She doesn't live on or have access to a private lake. Nobody picks up the tab for her travel to the tournaments and she's one of the few that live outside of Orlando, which makes those expenses even more significant.

Evelyn hasn't been handed anything. Everything she's accomplished was done so through sheer determination, hard work and a true love for wakeboarding. Despite all that's worked against her, she still managed to make it into the finals at the 2000 World Championships in her first year as a professional wakeboarder. WakeWorld had the privilege to spend some time with Evelyn and find out what's behind this driven athlete.

WW: You're probably the only pro wakeboarder born in Panama. Now you're in Austin, Texas. How long have you lived there?
EZ: Since I was like two. So 24 years. I'd say that's pretty much all my life.

WW: I've heard a lot about the Austin scene. Tell me about it?
EZ: Austin is just fantastic. It's so great to live there. I don't think I could have gotten nearly as far as I have, as far as my riding ability, if I didn't have all the people there to ride with and push and encourage me. Everybody has a very positive attitude about wakeboarding. There are not a lot of people with attitudes. There are a few. I can't say that there are none. There are a few people who are all about how many inverts you can do and all that, but most people are just excited to go out there and ride.

The local wakeboarding club, the 360 Wakeboard Club, is killer because it's such a good way to get people together to go ride. We have a little email list you can get on and any day of the week you can send out a message saying, "Hey, looking for a ride." Or if you're looking for more people on your boat, you send out a message and get about six or seven responses back saying, "Oh yeah, stoked to go and let's hook up." So it's really nice.

Also there's just two main lakes, Lake Travis and Lake Austin, so it's really like a social scene. You go out there and you see everyone else ride so it pushes you because you're out there with everybody else. I noticed in Florida how everybody seems to live on their own private lake and they could be out there riding all year long and never really see anybody else on their lake. I'm sure that it's really awesome to have your own private lake and great water all the time, but sometimes I think I prefer having all my friends around and jumping from boat to boat or whatever.

WW: So does the water stay pretty good?
EZ: Lake Austin on the weekends can get pretty rough. During the week it's usually pretty good. During the summertime it gets pretty bad 'cause the kids are out of school, and there's a lot of people who live on Lake Austin who have boats. But if you're dedicated, you'll wake up for an early set on the weekends or you'll go up near the dam, which is where the water is smoothest, but also the coldest. Up there you can pretty much stay away from the wallys on the jet skis and cigarette boats and all that. You'll just have a couple wakeboarders up there and everybody pretty much respects each other's little path.

WW: Can you ride all year round in Texas?
EZ: Yes, but in January and February you have to wear a really good wetsuit or a drysuit. I can remember two Christmases ago, it was Christmas Eve and I was out on Lake Austin, which is the lake that has the coldest water, with a shorty on. It was super nice outside, so even if the water is a little bit chilly, you can still ride. January and February is when it gets really cold, but you can certainly still ride. There are actually quite a few people who still do. There's that many people in Austin that are so into it that they'll go year 'round.

WW: Who do you ride with most of the time?
EZ: I ride with a lot of different people at home, which is great. There are a couple of girls that I ride with a lot, Shellie and Trish, and there's always a bunch of guys to catch a ride with. I try to ride with a lot of different people because I think that it helps keep me on my toes, since I seem to try to ride my best around anyone who I've never ridden with.

WW: When you think about the amount of time on the water you need to get to the pro level, it's pretty amazing to see a pro rider who doesn't even have her own boat.
EZ: Yeah, that's why I say I'm so fortunate to live in Austin because, even if I lived in Florida, without having my own boat I don't think I'd be able to ride as much as I do in Austin. Just because everybody is on their own private lake and people are probably always trying to find a ride while they're in Florida. I think it would be a lot more difficult than I have it in Austin.

People tell me, "You should move to Florida. You could totally advance your career." I'm like, "Yeah, maybe." Maybe since it's warmer and you're closer to all the industry people, and the magazine and all that. But as far as doing what I want to do, which is riding and having the most fun possible while doing it, Austin is the place to be. Plus, Austin is awesome because besides the riding, everything else is great, too. Like the live music, ya know...the whole scene there is just so much more fun I think.

WW: Your pro career started at the Phoenix Pro Am in 1999, isn't that right?
EZ: Yes it did. That was my first pro tournament.

WW: How has your pro career gone since then? Is it everything you expected?
EZ: I haven't performed as well in pro tournaments as I had hoped, and much of that had to do with the foot sprain that took me out in the beginning of the season. I certainly don't think I've ever had a contest where I've shown my true ability, except for maybe the semifinals at Worlds. But it's just like everything else; you start out and you may not be very good at it, or you may suck at it, but the more you do it, the better you'll get. So I try to keep that in mind and try not to get too discouraged when I don't do well. It's just so much fun to travel to all these different places and ride someplace new, meet different people, so I count my lucky stars at night that I even get to do all this. Doing well would be the icing on the cake, but I'm not expecting it to happen overnight.

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