LANTANA, FL [April 23, 2007]--Fourteen-year-old girls' wakeboarding World Champion Raimi Merritt won every tournament she competed in last year and is well on her way to repeating that feat again this year. In March, she claimed the 2007 IWSF Girls Pan American Championship title for the second year in a row, finishing well ahead of all other competitors. This week, she'll compete at the Wake Games in Orlando, Florida to defend last year's first place title. The Wake Games run April 26 – 29, 2007 at the Orlando Watersports Complex.
Merritt trains with two of the best coaches in the industry, Mike Ferraro and Dean Lavelle. They both believe this motivated high-flying kid from Lantana, Florida is one to watch. Mike Ferraro, who has coached many of the top names in wakeboarding, recently described Raimi as "fearless." "She's one of the very few girls I've coached who are really willing to work hard," said Ferraro. "She has the drive, she can deal with the pain, and she's getting great support from her family. As long as she stays healthy and keeps listening, she's going to go a long way--the sky's the limit for her."
Dean Lavelle, a four-time world champion who runs a wakeboarding school in Pompano Beach, Florida, said, "If Raimi continues at the pace she's going, with her attitude and her talent, she definitely has the potential to be the very best. She's that motivated."
Merritt, who began wakeboarding at the age of nine, has dominated the awards podium from the start, winning the very first WWA National Championship she competed at in 2004. In 2006, she racked up every major title including the WWA Girls World Wakeboard Championship, WWA Girls National Wakeboard Championship, and USA Girls National Wakeboard Championship. She's been a member on the USA World Championship Wakeboard Team since she was eleven years old. Merritt's goals for 2007 are to win the IWSF World Championships in Qatar in October and rack up enough tricks in her arsenal to turn pro next year.
Merritt's current sponsors are Liquid Force Wakeboards, Girls4Sport, MonaVie Nutrition Beverage, R3 Global, and Fly High Wakeboard Gear.
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