‘Out there I am free’: Blind wakeboarder to compete in national championships in Winter Haven

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Next week, Scott Leason, who’s 65 and completely blind, will compete with hundreds of other athletes in the Nautique WWA Wakeboard National Championships on Lake Silver in Winter Haven.

"I tell everybody when I am wakeboarding, I am just a wakeboard dude," he told FOX 13. "I am no longer blind out there. Out there, I am free."

Scott has been blind for 28 years. In 1993, he was working in a convenience store in California when two gang members walked in and robbed him at gunpoint.  He handed over the money, but they shot him in the head anyway. The incident took away his sight but gave him something else, unstoppable passion.

"And his attitude. He is not angry at anybody. He is always smiling," commented Shannon Starling of the World Wake Association.

Along with being a top-notch wakeboarder, he is a surfing champion, a Navy veteran, and an Ironman competitor.

"I felt challenged by some friends, so I trained really hard," he said.

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Next week Leason will be wakeboarding against sighted athletes.

"I don’t ask for anything. I just go out there and try my best," he said.

The competition runs from Wednesday, July 28 to Friday, July 30.

LINK: For more information, visit https://www.thewwa.com/ . 

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