Zahra Kell Interview
Words by Andrea Gaytan
It’s the semifinal round at the 2024 WWA World Wakeboarding Championship in Surfers Paradise, Australia and the conditions are shocking. On the previous day the competition was cancelled because of rain and wind-chop, and the Pro Women wait for their turn nervously gathered on the dock thinking about strategy.
“The goal is to make it into the final round”, says the 2022 world champ Mary Morgan Howell, but even if they change their passes, the big wake and the white caps are taking many world class competitors down. Mary Morgan falls early attempting a mobe on her first pass and on her second pass she falls again doing a grab180 and misses the cut.
The defending World Champion Zahra Kell is waiting to go, she is the top seed and she’s fresh from winning the 2024 Rider’s Choice Wake Award for the best female boat rider of the year. Kell watches her competitors fall like flies with a poker face as she is used to be the last rider because of her top rank.
The crowd goes silent as she pulls out from the wake and with her signature crouch she starts her pass landing a huge mobe. Yes, she has one of the most difficult tricks at the beginning of her first pass, she nails it and wins her heat moving into the final round.
One thing about Zahra is that she doesn’t hold back. She has the grit and courage to send it and withstand world class pressure with the expertise to stand her runs in less than ideal conditions, but if we had to use one word to describe her competitive style is Consistency. She rides with solid nerves of steel that have merited her wins in all the elite pro titles. As a regular on top of the podium, she is also the most popular wakeboarder, (male or female) in the social media accounts, posting multiple edits with millions of views, Zarah has brought the sport of wakeboarding into the households of more than 24 million viewers worldwide.
On the day of the finals, the wind still gusts but the sun is out as Zahra goes for it again while hundreds of young girls and a frenzied local crowd cheers wildly from the water’s edge. She doesn’t play it safe, in true champion mode Kell goes for the gold. Unfortunately she falls twice and ends up in fourth place, but her result still crowns her as the 2024 WWA Nautique Overall Series Champion for the second year in a row, ending a glorious season where she landed new tricks including the back seven, the grab cab 7 and her first 900.
After disappearing from the crowd for a few moments she reemerges composed and with a smile on her face ready to sign autographs and take photos with her fans, she may be the toughest competitor in the water but she is a sweetheart on land.
Catching up with Zahra Kell:
You are the most popular woman wakeboarder on the planet. How many followers do you have on Instagram and how many views has your most popular video clip on TikTok?
Aw thank you so much hahaha, I have 241K followers on Instagram at the moment and my most popular video on tiktok has 18.1M views and on instagram 24.8M Views!
Tell us about how you started wakeboarding and a little bit about your dad. We know he’s been coaching a lot of great ones.
He sure has! I have been wakeboarding technically since I was 1! Dad took me on his wakeboard with him when I was 1 and I went by myself for the first time at 3 years old! Dad has been the biggest inspiration and best coach to me he’s so good at what he does and me and my fellow Aussie wakeboarders absolutely love training with him!
Talk a little bit about snowboarding, if you ever became competitive on it and why did you choose to focus on wakeboarding?
Ah I love snowboarding! I used to compete in snowboarding from the ages of about 6-15! I have had some great achievements such as Australian Junior series & National champion in Slopestyle, Boarder Cross and Halfpipe and Thredbo Slopestyle series Open women 1st place! I chose to focus on wakeboarding as i’ve always loved the summer and being on the boat, as well as it was quite hard to balance the wake and snow season especially with competing overseas in both sports it was hard to get to all the competitions I wanted too! I also broke my Scapula (Shoulder blade) Whilst snowboarding which was pretty scary as the injuries can be much more severe on snow!
So you live in Sydney, did you grow up there? We see you are quite a fashionista! Tell us how is a normal day in your life?
I do!! Yes I’ve grown up in Sydney and it has been amazing! Aw thank you so much! A day in my life whilst i’m in training usually contains of wakeboarding twice a day as well as a gym session and some shopping too I also love getting my nails, lashes, brows and hair done as I think if you look good you feel good!
What are your best contest results and tell us why you took some time off wakeboarding and what made you decide to come back?
My best contest results would have to be those that I’ve achieved since coming back to wakeboarding in the start of 2023! Pro Women Moomba Masters Champion 2023, Pro women US National Champion 2023, Pro women World champion 2023 and Overall Wakeboard world series winner for 2023, As well as Pro Women Moomba Masters champion for 2024, US National Champion 2024 and Overall series winner for 2024, It was such a surreal experience to see my hard work pay off by winning the overall world series for 2 out of the 2 years I’ve been back riding! I took 3 Years off of wakeboarding when I was 16-19 years old, I had just been involved in the sport all of my life and wanted to explore what else life had to offer and do the things that normal girls my age were doing such as having a job, moving out, having a consistent routine etc. It was definitely the best thing I ever did for my career though as I now have a brand new perspective on life and I came out of my shell a lot and I am now so so so much more appreciative for what I get to do and the way I live as a wakeboarder, Really enjoying being able to travel with my best friends and compete in these amazing competitions.
How do you prepare mentally for the contests? We know you start your run with one very difficult mobe and you’re very consistent on it. Any tips?
I just do my best to work hard even after setbacks and non ideal conditions, I have a lot of motivation to always be on top of the podium so that definitely helps!
You had an amazing 2024 season, you won the WWA Nautique World Series for the second year in a row and the Riders Choice Wake Award for the best boat rider of the year! What are your goals for next season?
Thank you so much! Yeah it was definitely a dream to be able to do that this season and my goal for 2025 is exactly the same I would absolutely love to take out the wakeboard world series again.
Where do you see women’s wakeboarding going in the near future and who inspires you?
Honestly, I see it being massive! I’m already seeing so much improvement with the girls, lots of hard work and new tricks being landed which is such a cool thing to be involved in and i’d love to see wakeboarding as a whole become a bigger sport and inspire the youth generation to always reach for their dreams! Euge De Armas inspires me!! I absolutely love how much fun she brings to the sport and also insane tricks!
Who are your sponsors and anyone you would like to thank and…
For sure! My sponsors are a massive help in me getting to do what I do so a huge thank you to Nautique Boats, Jetpilot Company and Liquid Force. As well as my family, I would not be able to do this without them they are seriously the best and it helps so much to have an amazing support team around me!
Thanks Z! It was so fun meeting you in Australia!
