Related Items:
Sean O'Brien Photo/Video Gallery
Sean O'Brien Video (Quicktime, 8.2 mb)
Sean O'Brien Osmosis 540 Video (Quicktime, 1.4 mb)

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

As most wakeboarders already know, Orlando Florida is the Mecca of wakeboarding. It seems like everywhere you turn there's a lake and a wakeboarder ripping it up behind a pimped out boat. Many of the sport's top pros, as well as up and coming young riders just trying to make it in the pro ranks, make their home in Orlando. Sean O'Brien is one of those riders just starting to make a name for himself.

Wakeworld regulars will probably recognize Sean from the video of his grabbed osmosis off-axis 540 as well as his selection as 1st runner up to Tino Santori for Rookie of the Year in the 2003 WakeWorld Riders Choice Awards. We sat down to chat with Sean during his spring break, which wasn't much of a break for him since he was busy preparing for the upcoming season.

WW: Okay Sean, before we get started, what do you think of the 1080 contest and are you going to attempt one?
SO: I think it's a great way to motivate people and help progress wakeboarding. It gives everybody an incentive to be the next guy to stick a 10. I am definitely going to be trying some as soon as I finish this semester and get back down to Orlando.

WW: That's great. Just make sure you get it on video! Okay, so the basic questions to start - where are you from and how old are you?
SO: I'm from Orlando, Florida and I'm 21 years old.

WW: How long have you been boarding?
SO: I've been riding for almost seven years.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: How did you first get into wakeboarding?
SO: It's pretty cool how it all began. Some friends of our family, Micki and Jim Smith, indirectly started everything for me. Their nephew is Mike Weddington. Well, I guess Mike had a really bad ear infection the week before Worlds. Since my dad is a doctor, the Smiths brought Mike over to my house and my dad gave him some drops to clear up the infection. It turns out that Mike ended up winning Worlds and, as a token of appreciation, he gave me a board and bindings. About a year later, Micki and Jim somehow convinced my parents to buy a boat and that is when I actually started to ride.

WW: When did you realize that you were good at it?
SO: After about a year of riding I was already hitting a bunch of tough tricks. One day I was out riding and my mom drove by a Mastercraft that was sitting out on the lake. As we passed by them I stuck a whirly and then fell on a crow mobe. While I was waiting in the water, the Mastercraft pulled up next to me and I noticed this gorgeous girl standing on the back of the boat. She introduces herself as Farrah Dawson and tells me that she has been watching me ride for the past year and that she was very impressed with my improvement. She then asks me if I would like to start riding with her. My jaw just dropped and for a second I could not speak. The next thing I knew we were riding together everyday.

WW: You used to ride with former pro women's rider, Farrah Dawson. What happened to her? Do you still ride with her?
SO: Actually, she is now Farrah Balderson. She has been married for the past three years and I have never seen her happier. She's moved out of Orlando and besides surfing and fishing with her husband, she has been keeping herself very busy with work and school. Overall, she seems to be doing great. She has been such an amazing friend and I am so glad that everything is coming together for her.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: I understand you're a fulltime college student. What school are you attending and what is your major?
SO: I'm a junior at Florida State University and I'm majoring in Exercise Science with an emphasis in exercise physiology. This pretty much means that I'm taking a bunch of pre-med courses.

WW: How do you find time to wakeboard with such a heavy class load and such difficult courses?
SO: This semester has been really hard for me. I am taking 18 credit hours and I haven't really had too much free time on my hands. Luckily, I live on a lake up at school and we just got our boat back last week, so I should be able to ride on the weekends for the rest of the semester. This isn't enough, but at least it's something.

WW: What do you plan to do once you graduate?
SO: The original plan was to go on to med school, but plans change. There is nothing that I would rather do than ride and help promote wakeboarding. So if I can turn my passion into a career, then that's what I'm going to do.

WW: What do you see yourself doing after you finish your wakeboarding career?
SO: My parents are asking me the same question and I'm not really sure what the answer is. If I could get a decent job in the wakeboarding industry I would probably take it, but if that doesn't work out then I will probably apply to med school or some other type of graduate program. So my best guess is that I'll either be involved in the industry or I'll be doing something to help people.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: So what are your goals and plans for this season?
SO: I'll be competing in Orlando, but after that I don't really know what my plans are. If I place in the top 40, I'll probably go to a few of the tour stops. Besides that, I might try to hop on a bus tour for a little bit.

WW: What will it take for you to step it up in competition?
SO: Right now I would say that my weakness is hitting rails. If I could get some practice on an A-frame, I would feel a lot more comfortable riding in contests.

WW: Well do you feel that your style is more suited to free riding including photo and video shoots as compared to competitions?
SO: I feel like I'm a much better free rider. I love riding with friends and trying new tricks. I find riding for competitions to be very repetitive because when you're "training" you throw the same tricks over and over again. There is no real improvement in your riding and by "training" you're not pushing wakeboarding to any new levels.

WW: Your previous board sponsor went out of business, so who are you riding for now?
SO: I'm very excited to be riding for Liquid Force. Ever since I rode the original Squirt with the Super Suctions, I have loved their products.

WW: How did you get hooked up with Liquid Force?
SO: I knew that I wanted to ride for Liquid Force, so at the Surf Expo last September I pretty much stood in their booth for two days. My goal was to make myself known to everybody affiliated with Liquid Force. My plan worked and even though nothing was finalized that weekend, I still made the contacts that I needed and about a month later I was riding for Liquid Force.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: So what's your new setup?
SO: I'm riding the Liquid Force Subjekt 133 with Ultra Sucs. This is the best setup I have ever had. This board fits my riding style perfectly and the bindings are the most comfortable things that I have ever put on my feet.

WW: What other sponsors do you have?
SO: Right now my only other sponsor is Execute, which is a brand new company that is making lifejackets and wetsuits.

WW: No boat sponsor? I'm guessing that you'd be happy to talk to anybody that wanted to give you a new boat, right?
SO: I don't think that I would have a problem with that. My parents just sold our 1996 Tige 2100, so I don't even have a boat anymore. Recently, I've just been riding behind my friends' boats, which is great, but there is nothing like having your own boat. So if anybody would like to help me out, please feel free.

WW: As a sponsored pro rider, do you feel that it's your job to be a role model for the younger riders and fans?
SO: It is the rider's job to be seen. They try to make their presence known not only in magazines and videos, but more importantly in riding clinics and contests. It's at these events where they have the opportunity to interact with others and really promote their sponsors and themselves. Whether or not they realize it, the manner in which they conduct themselves is noticed by everybody. A lot of the kids at these events really look up to the pros. They hang out by the booths for the opportunity to meet their favorite rider and the impressions made on the kids have the ability to influence them in several ways. Since the pros are in this position, I feel like it is important for the riders to behave in a positive way and try to set a good example.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: What would you change at these events in an attempt to improve the image of the riders?
SO: I just wish there was more interaction between the pros and the kids that attend the events. Andrew Adkison and I have talked about this and we thought it would be really cool to organize something at each of the contests that would allow kids to hang out with a bunch of pros after the day's events are over, just having some fun. It would give kids a chance to really get to know and interact with the pros.

WW: It seems like many WakeWorld regulars know of you because of the grabbed osmosis off-axis 540 video that's been circulating around the Internet. How weird is that?
SO: The response that I received from that trick was incredible. I never expected one trick to get that much attention. I just hope I can generate the same reaction in the future when I stick some more new tricks.

WW: I think you'll generate a lot of attention with the tricks you're pulling now. But what new tricks are you working on?
SO: I can't tell you guys that! Let's just put it this way, there are a lot of tricks that I really want to learn this summer and most of them, as far as I know, have not been landed before. The one trick that I will tell you about is a HS slob 1080, but the rest of them you will just have to wait and see.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: That sounds pretty cool and hopefully you'll stick those new tricks. What's your favorite thing about riding?
SO: There are actually two things that I absolutely love about wakeboarding. The first is the feeling of freedom that I get when I am riding. Whether I'm sticking a new trick or just messing around and having fun, the feeling that I get when I'm out on the water is incredible. The other thing that I love about this sport is the people that I have met through wakeboarding. They have all had a major impact on my life and I hope they understand how much they all mean to me.

WW: I think every wakeboarder can relate to those and particularly the feeling of freedom that you mentioned. So who do you usually ride with?
SO: When I'm up at school I ride with my roommates, Kevin and Kyle. While I'm in Orlando, I usually ride with Derek Seaman, Danny Thollander or Sean McDonald, but recently I've been riding with Will Christien, Stew Mackie and Dan Nott.

WW: Which riders do you enjoy watching and who do you look up to?
SO: I love watching everybody ride, but my top three would probably have to be Watson, Murray and Harf. The person that I look up to the most is Murray. He is an incredible rider, but, more importantly, he's just a great person. I had the privilege to hang out with him at one of the Back Yard Tour stops and the way that he interacted with everybody was amazing. In my opinion, he is definitely the best representative for wakeboarding.

Sean O'Brien (click to enlarge)

WW: The Pro Tour isn't going to be the same this year without Shaun Murray there, but hopefully he'll be back competing next season. And now for one of those questions that everyone hates. Describe what kind of person you are. How would your friends describe you?
SO: I consider myself to be very dedicated to the major aspects of my life (wakeboarding, school and relationships with friends and family). Somebody asked me this recently and I didn't know what to say so I asked some of my friends and the responses that they came up with were: determined, selfless and caring.

WW: And finally, who would you like to thank?
SO: First, I have to thank my family for their continued support and for guiding me to become the person that I am today. I also have to thank the Smiths and Mike Weddington for introducing me to this sport. Derek, Josh and Farrah, you all are some of the most amazing people I have ever met and I am grateful for various ways that you all have influenced my life. Thank you for everything. Thanks to everybody at Liquid Force and Execute for hooking me up and to Danny, Sean, Adkison, Kyle and Kevin for giving me places to ride. Tori, Nicole, Rich, Chris and all my other buddies at FSU, thank you for being such great friends. Thanks Bill and Dave for giving me this opportunity and last, but not least, thanks to everybody online who has supported my riding. Without you guys this may have never happened, so I'm grateful for everything that you have done for me.

Sean, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Good luck with the upcoming season and go stick a 1080!

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