Yana Lapikova: Pure Sunshine, Pure Drive
An Exclusive Interview with Yana Lapikova | 17th March 2025 (updated 6/6/25)
If you’ve ever met Yana Lapikova, you remember the hug. Not the conversation, not the handshake — the hug. Because that’s how she shows up: radiant, buzzing with energy, heart first. She’s not just a wakesurfer, or a coach, or a former digital strategist, she’s the human equivalent of a sunrise. And somehow, even when she hasn’t slept in two days, she’s still the most energized person in the room.
But behind that unmistakable warmth is a razor-sharp mindset and a journey marked by reinvention, resilience, and wild amounts of grit.
“I wasn’t immediately obsessed. And then… I let go of the rope.”
When Yana first saw wake surfing, she wasn’t impressed. She didn’t get it — “why ride behind a boat? Why pay so much to fall into the water?” It wasn’t until a spontaneous session on the Mediterranean, months later, that she finally gave it a try.
At first, it was fun, nothing more. But then winter arrived. While most schools shut down, Yana went back to Crest Watersports — the only one still open. She met a boat pilot who explained the basics, offered a few corrections, and told her to try letting go of the rope.
That was it. One moment, one release, and she was in. “When I finally let go of the rope, I was hooked.”
That tiny shift became the beginning of everything: daily sessions, personal sacrifices, a life slowly shaped around the board. “I didn’t care that I was spending my entire salary on it. I was all in.”
“No media presence, no clients. That simple.”
Yana didn’t come into wakesurfing as a blank slate. Her background was in marketing and media and that gave her an edge. While others focused only on performance, she understood presentation, too.
“There was a huge gap… there still is” she says. “Wakesurfing is not as well represented as regular surfing, or even kitesurfing. There’s not much content, nor resources, nor buzz around it. So I launched my own page, started sharing my sessions, and even ran an ad campaign — just to tell people: wakesurfing exists!” – this is so Yana, but the way – simple, a little naive, wildly optimistic and believing that what you project is what you attract in life.
That first move, equal parts bold and naive, sparked a ripple effect. More people came. More conversations started. Eventually, that turned into a community. And a business.
At the heart of it all? A desire to share. “I wasn’t coaching yet, I just wanted people to feel what I felt on the board.”. Maybe she didn’t think about this at that time, but that’s a core rule of good marketing – make people feel, don’t sell, don’t talk about your service or product features – make them feel. Whether or not it was a strategic move from the part of an experienced digital marketer – we don’t know, but knowing Yana – this, almost certainly, was a natural soul impulse from her.
“Some people fake positivity. Yana is positivity.”
Some people wear positivity as a performance. Yana is positivity.
She radiates it in the way she coaches. In the way she competes. In how she speaks about failure — not with frustration, but curiosity.
“No two sessions are the same. The water changes. The wave changes. You have to adapt.” And when things don’t land? “You think you’re stuck. But actually, you’re gearing up for your next breakthrough.”
Her mindset isn’t accidental. She reads sports psychology, visualizes her success, and uses every setback as a study. But even more than that, it’s her nature to keep showing up smiling. “Even when things are hard, I feel lucky to be doing this.”
“I didn’t plan to coach. Someone just invited me to ride.”
Yana never planned to coach. It started with a DM: We see you training all the time — come ride with us. So she did. One ride led to another, and soon she was helping beginners.
Still, she hesitated to claim the title of coach. “So I made a deal with myself: compete in a major event and land a shuvit. Then you can say it out loud.”
She did both. And the messages started pouring in.
“My job had structure. But wakesurfing had my heart.”
For a while, Yana tried to live in both worlds. She surfed before 10AM, then logged into her office job. But the balance was fake and she knew it.
A competition in Japan became the turning point. While she was away, her boss asked about her future plans. Yana didn’t even have to answer. They both knew.
She left the corporate world and never looked back.
“It was clear — I didn’t want to go back to the office full-time. I wanted this.”
“Cyprus gave me the balance I didn’t know I needed.”
Cyprus, with its warm water and year-round conditions, didn’t just become her home. It became her foundation.
She trains through the winter, appreciates the imperfections of open sea (which prepare her better than any glassy lake ever could), and builds a lifestyle that reflects the rhythm of the island.
“The sea became my structure. It slows you down in the best way. It makes you reflect. Reset.”
“Right now, I’m chasing the PRO division.”
Yana has her sights set on the PRO division. She’s currently competing in the Open Women Skim category, which is the middle category between amateur and pro divisions, but every ride is an audition for the next level.
This season, she had already competed in Japan, in the WWA (World Wake Association) Nautique Japan Wakesurf Open presented by Yanmar and won a Silver Medal.
Next she is heading to Spain, and the U.S. to compete in wakesurfing, land new tricks and prove to her inner-athlete that she’s got it. Yana’s also growing her content, coaching, and plays her role as a team rider for Kanuk wakesurf boards (which she also helps distribute in Europe together with Crest Watersports).
“I want to build something lasting. A school. A hub. A place people want to come back to.”
Yana Lapikova isn’t just redefining wakesurfing — she’s redefining what it means to bring joy into high-performance spaces.
She’s here to show that ambition doesn’t have to be cold. That sport can be structure and sunshine at once. That movement is more than progress — it’s a state of mind.
And if you ever need reminding — just find her. She’ll greet you with a smile and a hug. And then probably offer to tow you behind a boat.
Watch full video here.