Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Women

Waking Down Barriers: the First Women’s Wakeboard Event at the Pan Am Games

  • October 17, 2019
  • Ned Morgan
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

No women’s wakeboarding event at the Pan Am Games? Erika Langman changed that. 

words :: Kristin Schnelten

During her more than ten years on the international wakeboard scene, Ontario athlete Erika Langman has competed, placed and won at comps around the world, including the Canadian Wakeboard Championships, the World Championships and the World Cup. She is also a member of the Canadian National Wakeboard Team. The one competition that eluded her was the Pan American Games. But the struggle to enter wasn’t her riding or her competitors; it was her gender. Women’s wakeboarding wasn’t included in the Games.

 

Erika Langman at the Pan Am Games, Wakeboarding, by Mountain Life Media
Erika Langman at the Pan Am Games, Lima, Peru, July 2019. Copyright Gabriel Heusi / Lima 2019.

 

When she tells me, I’m completely floored. What is this, 1950? “I know, right?” Langman agrees. “Men’s wakeboarding was introduced in 2007. Since then, wakeboarding was the only single-gender sport in the entire Pan American Games.”

I look it up. Excluding two traditionally female sports—synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics—you’re left with wakeboarding. Men’s only. What gives? Can’t all sexes be towed behind a motorboat, or by an electric-powered cable, strapped onto a mini surfboard, doing aerial tricks?

“I never could get a straight answer from anyone,” Langman says, “Or, if they did give me an answer, it was full of holes.” Along with her counterparts in countries throughout the Americas, Langman spent years lobbying their sport’s governing bodies, with little to no response.

 

 

In 2015, frustrated—and crushed to know that year’s Pan Am Games would be held in her home country, her home province, and she couldn’t compete. Langman used the power of the pen. And the Internet.

“I wrote a blog post, and it kind of went viral,” she says. The post, “Boys Only! Sorry, Women of Wake, The Pan Am Games Are Just Not For You”, details (with surprising reserve) the ridiculous nature of the situation.

It worked. She presented her case and the officials finally listened. Within months of Langman’s post, women’s wakeboarding was quietly listed as an official sport at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

 

Photo courtesy Erika Langman

 

But securing a spot for women at the Games certainly didn’t guarantee Langman would compete. Each country could send just one female wakeboarder to Lima. Not a team, not even an alternate. Langman knew she had a fighting chance for the coveted spot (being named Canadian Wakeboard Female Athlete of the Year five years running gives one an inkling), but the competition was stiff. After narrowing the field to just two women, Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada, and the Canadian Olympic Committee, chose Langman: a decision based in part on performance under pressure.

And that pressure was certainly intense. After three days of training and one qualifying round, her performance at the Pan Am Games came down to a single run, ten tricks.

“I was shaking in my boots, feeling an immense amount of pressure to perform not only for Canada, but for myself, after this long, drawn-out journey. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous at a wakeboard event in my 20 years as a competitive athlete.” (Langman was a gymnast before she took up wakeboarding.)

Her run was strong. As she awaited results from the judges, she knew it would be close. But the final numbers—that left her less than half a point behind the bronze medal winner—were “absolutely heartbreaking.” To place fourth after so many years of training and fighting for the chance to compete may not have been the plan. But to be there at all, a female wakeboarder competing for her country at the Pan Am Games, was “truly an amazing experience,” she adds. “My family, friends, fellow athletes, coworkers, the entire Canadian wake scene, the Pan Am wake scene, and each of their own support systems were all there for me. They played a big part of getting women into the Games.”

 

Erika’s other board. Photo: Marc Landry/Blue Mountain Resort

 

At 34, the veteran rider is beginning to feel her age. When she returned from Lima, Langman made the difficult decision to retire. Well, sort of. “I’ll still do nationals, just not Pan Am,” she says. She has always found synergy between her job as Manager, Mountain Events for Blue Mountain Resort, and her wakeboarding career. “It was the best career move I could have made. Because of that decision, I’ve managed hundreds of events, from grassroots to world-class. I’ve met so many passionate people within the industry and developed a skill set in event management—all while travelling the globe to represent Canada on my wakeboard. I couldn’t be more grateful for the support I’ve been given and the community I’ve worked with at Blue over the years.”

As she continues to compete, her leadership role in the sport will continue. She sits on the board of directors for two governing bodies, she coaches and runs education programs, organizes national competitions and acts as chief judge in international comps. This sport has not yet seen the last of Erika Langman.

Erika Langman is sponsored by O’Neill, Liquid Force Wakeboards, and Dragon Alliance Sunglasses.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Blue Mountain Resort
  • Erika Langman
  • Pan Am Games
  • wakeboard
  • wakeboarding
Ned Morgan

Previous Article
Helly Hansen Storm Rain Jacket and Bib, reviewed by Mountain Life Media
  • THE GEAR SHED

Squall-Worthy: Helly Hansen Workwear Storm Rain Jacket & Bib

  • October 13, 2019
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Inside the Mind of Bryn Atkinson for “Find Focus”

  • October 28, 2019
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
Relic-The-Beachcombers-Ben-Tour-illustration
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Requiem for a Relic

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Paddling

For the Love of SUP

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 10, 2022
North-Shore-Betty-rummel_t_0110_BP
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Videos
  • Women

Friday Flick: North Shore Betty

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 6, 2022
Was-It-Worth-It-Kermode-bear-mcallister_PR
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Was It Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 5, 2022
Helly-Hansen-search-and-rescue-helping-hand-OVERBECK_HH-SAR_4503
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The ML Interview
  • Videos

Friday Flick: What it Means to be a Search & Rescue Responder

  • Mountain Life Media
  • April 29, 2022
Andrew-Burton-and-Michael-Kirby-Patagonia-films2
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Facing Climate Disaster, a Village Seeks Justice

  • Ned Morgan
  • April 22, 2022
Big-Canoe-Project-paddling-Georgian-Bay-claybanks-Meaford
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

Lake Effect: The Big Canoe Project 

  • Ned Morgan
  • April 21, 2022
Andrea LeClair-Esteves - Mount Robson Clouds 7
View Post
  • Features
  • Mountain Lifer

The Last Wish of a Cultural Giant

  • Mountain Life Media
  • April 18, 2022

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Relic-The-Beachcombers-Ben-Tour-illustration 1
    Requiem for a Relic
    • May 16, 2022
  • 2
    Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR
    • May 16, 2022
  • Dynafit-Sea-to-Summit-Delphi-harbor-revised 3
    Friday Flick: Skiing with the Gods of Delphi
    • May 13, 2022
  • 4
    For the Love of SUP
    • May 10, 2022
  • Full-Circle-Everest-The-North-Face-Nepal-prayer-flags 5
    Full Circle: First All-Black Team Attempts to Summit Everest
    • May 9, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • Nick-Gottlieb-Pereval-Dzhuku-pass
    Touching the Mountains of Heaven
    • May 12, 2022
  • North-Shore-Betty-rummel_t_0110_BP
    Friday Flick: North Shore Betty
    • May 6, 2022
  • Was-It-Worth-It-Kermode-bear-mcallister_PR
    Was It Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home
    • May 5, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
"@normhann and I lashed paddleboards to the roof of his truck and headed north along the Island Highway, towards Telegraph Cove. Norm had invited me to tag along on a commercial paddleboard group he would be guiding in the Broughton Archipelago. Despite a long history of SUP expeditions, I harboured some reservations."
To date, more than 6,000 people have summitted Everest, the highest point on Earth at 8,848.86 metres of elevation above sea level. And only a tiny handful of those climbers have been Black.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the rad moms out there! Here’s our Art Director & Head Designer @calypsodesign getting cozy with some sharks. #mountainlifer #mothersday
Making core memories on the trails ✨ #mountainlifer
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.