Darin Shapiro

Darin Fane Shapiro (born October 25, 1973), nicknamed "The Scud" is an American professional wakeboarder from Orlando, Florida and was one of the first successful riders to pioneer the sport. Shapiro is well known for landing the first ever double-flip on a wakeboard, which he named the "Speedball" as well as many other tricks which laid the foundation for what wakeboarding is today. After a 10-year retirement from wakeboarding, Shapiro returned to competition at age 40, at the 2014 Wake Games contest at Orlando Watersports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

Shapiro competed in his first pro contest on the island of Kauai at the age of 17.

Shapiro appeared in many major wakeboard movies and influenced the development of the sport. He is considered to be the first rider to land an "Air Raley", which was named after one of his coaches in Team Hyperlite, Chet Raley. The first signature board ever in the industry was named the "Shapiro Pro Model" from Hyperlite.

In the early days of the sport, Shapiro was riding for Herb O'Brien who founded Hyperlite. O'Brien noted that the "Hyperlite Pro" board was responsible for the tremendous growth of the sport and Shapiro contributed with his demonstrations of excellent riding.

Shapiro also surfs and is a musician.

In 2010, Shapiro became the first pro wakeboarder to be inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame.

Darin Shapiro is a 12-time World Champion and influenced the sport of wakeboarding for nearly 20 years.

Tournament results

3x triple crown champ, 12 overall world titles, 3x X Games, gold, silver, bronze, Gravity games gold, 4x masters champ, 3x Nautique Big Air champ, approximately 70 pro tour wins, and is the most winning rider in the history of the sport.