By K. Richard Douglas
For many Americans, being on the water, in any capacity, is the ultimate mode of relaxation. For others, it can be the ultimate outlet for fitness and sports activities.
Water-based sports and fitness pursuits have grown over the years with many new and innovative activities that allow for aquatic fun. Some of those activities include skiing, surfing, kayaking, canoeing, wakeboarding, windsurfing and swimming. All requiring a specific skillset, level of confidence and level of fitness.
One skilled watersports fanatics is David Soffer, a medical equipment I.S. specialist with WellSpan Health. Soffer has developed a high level of skill in several water sports. He relied on summers trips during his youth to hone his skills.
“I must give credit to my aunt and uncle who lived in California for introducing me to waterskiing. I started visiting in the summers when I was 11 years old, and every weekend involved camping at Lake Berryessa. Lake Berryessa is a beautiful area near Napa and is a weekend hotspot for boating and water sports,” Soffer says.
He says that ironically, growing up in Central Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River was in his backyard. Unfortunately, his parents did not own a boat, canoe or kayak.
“I remember going to parks near the river and looking at the frozen structures the wind and water created in very cold winters,” Soffer says.
Because waterskiing was Soffer’s entry into activities on the water, he had to go through the same learning curve as everyone else.
“The first time I tried waterskiing was on double skis. I took a face full of water and I wanted nothing to do with skiing for a while. I gave it another go and fell in love with the feeling of riding on top of the water. Young kids have it easy. They barely weigh anything and can pop up out of the water with very little effort. My kids and their friends pop right up without much pull from the boat. The biggest challenge for anyone riding skis, wakeboards, surfboards is balance. There is a left/right and forward/backward balance required. It takes some tries,” Soffer says.
His advice to novice skiers is: 1) Don’t pull the rope; let the boat pull you. 2) Don’t stand up too early; let the boat get to speed. 3) Look at the back of the boat and work on your balance when you stand up.
His advice to boat drivers who do not have experience pulling skiers: don’t slam the throttle trying to pull your rider out of the water and speed is not your friend for new riders.
In addition to skiing, Soffer enjoys wakeboarding, wake surfing, riding a hydrofoil and barefooting. Yes, he skis barefoot. Although he says he is still a beginner at barefooting, he calls it an “adrenaline rush.”
MORE THAN WATER SKIS
While the most familiar picture of an enthusiast enjoying water sports might be the person towed behind a boat, standing on two narrow skis, the popularity of other means of skimming across the water have caught on.
Soffer enjoys wakeboarding, a sport that has gained a following just as its snow-dependent first-cousin has. It requires a single wakeboard with foot bindings and a tow vehicle.
“Wakeboarding is similar to snowboarding. The boards are different, but the concept of bindings, and being able to carve and ride the edge, is the same. Obviously with wakeboarding, you need to have a boat, jet ski or cable pull you across the water. Most people think of waterskiing behind the boat with one or two skis. Wakeboarding is easier to learn than a single ski (slalom ski) and much easier for people to get ‘up’ and ride,” he says.
While wakeboarding involves a wakeboard and tow line, wake surfing uses a board that looks more like a surfboard and allows the person being towed to disengage from the tow line and ride the boat’s wake.
“Wake surfing is so much fun. With the correct setup and water conditions, it provides a consistent wave that you can ride until you run out of river or lake. Much like wakeboarding, you can ride the wave in any manner you desire. The size and length of the wave give you freedom to pump, trick or just cruise,” Soffer says.
He says that with any water sport, you will get a great workout. He adds that you will have sore muscles you never knew existed.
“Surfing for those who already ride wakeboards or skis is an easy transition. The rider needs to get the feel of being in the push of the wave so they can let go of the rope. For beginners, it will take some time. I found using a very long board or a skim style board (no fins) is much harder to control. A beginner should ride a board with fins and medium length,” Soffer says.
Another water sport that Soffer participates in might look intimidating to beginners. That is because it results in the rider rising above the water’s surface while moving. Riding a hydrofoil looks like it would be a challenge.
“Credit goes to my uncle again for the hydrofoil. We started riding this in the 1990s. Today, my wife and I ride a modified version of this same foil. Originally, the foil started as a piece of equipment you sat on to ride. Now, there is a type you stand on to ride and many use this to surf. I have also viewed on the web, a battery-operated stand-on foil (I have not looked at one in person). By far, the foil is my favorite thing to ride. This totally requires good balance. I equate it to friends, trying it for the first time, as riding a bike with no hands, but with a forward/backward portion to control elevation out of the water,” Soffer says.
He says that most first-time riders either shoot left or right because they can’t balance or pop out of the water because they are leaning back.
“The foil is easy to ride once you get the hang of the balance issue. The foil slices through the water and there is zero drag once you are moving. It is great for people that have knee or back issues and are afraid to wake, ski or surf. You are just sitting on the foil and enjoying the cruise. Jumping and inverts are optional,” Soffer says.
While water sports are a hobby, Soffer spends his work time as an I.S. professional.
“My role is called MEISS: Medical Equipment I.S. Specialist. I like to say my team of three is the small gear that goes between Biomed, larger I.S., Network, Clinical Informatics and the customer. Our primary focus is medical device integration to the EMR,” he says.
“We have a large amount of integrated medical devices which include bedside monitoring, anesthesia, ventilators, infusion pumps, vital sign machines, dialysis, cardiac output and balloon pumps. Our secondary tasks include small project management, documentation to support our devices, cybersecurity support and capital review. As with any role, in or around biomed; every day is something new,” Soffer adds.
He reminds those who would attempt any of these water sports that “the most important piece of equipment is a lifejacket.”
Next time you see someone on the water completely engrossed in a water sport, it might just be a medical equipment I.S. specialist making the most of his off-hours.