Katinka Mary Lucy Buiting - Interview

I would say it’s over with the "underground dog" Katinka, Big Cat Katinka is on the screen. After her showing in Sewer Cats the Sequel, Banger after Bangers and putting herself in the spotlight of managing Contest Runs with Winning Potential. It’s time to know more about her. I've been impressed by Katinka for a while but she showed this year she is here to stay and riding on the top of women’s wakeboarding.

Hey Katinka!

I think we met for the first time 5 years ago in Valdosta! And I was so impressed by your riding there already. You pushed yourself even harder the last few years. And you got big recognition at contests this year. When and where did you start riding and how did you push yourself riding at that level?

Haha yeah, good times! I think it was November 2018, at this point I’d basically just started wakeboarding and I didn’t realize I could get hurt yet. Now I know better and I am a bit more careful, but I still try to learn something new every time I ride, even if it is just a little change or grab or tweak to something I could already do. 

I started wakeboarding when I joined a boardsports student association at my University. They offered cheaper ways to go snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, and surfing. Initially, I was just interested in snowboarding, but I gave wakeboarding a try and loved it. When I went backpacking in the Philippines in 2017, I discovered that Camsur Watersports Complex was there and of course I had to visit. My last week in the Philippines I bought myself a wakeboard and spent every minute of my day riding at CWC.  

Is there a story point in your life when you thought "I want to be good at wakeboarding?"

I guess I was already at this point at CWC, I was an absolute beginner between all the Pro’s. But watching girls like Maryh and Anna with their insane style on the water really inspired me to put everything I had into wakeboarding :)  

You are from the Netherlands, but we know you don’t look like that, haha. More like Pocahontas. Where are your roots from?

Don’t be fooled, under my bindings my skin is as white as snow! But my grandma on my mother's side was Indonesian. 

Not a big deal but I always wanted to be Pocahontas as a kid, actually I had a toy who looked like Pocahontas. And then I saw you and was like "Woah, she made it" haha. Back to you, I always see you traveling alone and meeting all your friends all over the world. I’m impressed by it and I think more girls should do it.

When was your first trip out of the Netherlands and traveling to another country for wakeboarding?

Hahah thank you! My goal was always Belle from Beauty & the Beast, but I'm happy to be any Disney princess :) 

So, the first time I wakeboarded abroad was this first time at CWC, this trip wasn’t really for wakeboarding, but until Covid I’ve kept going back to the Philippines, with less touristing and more wakeboarding!

What is your favorite park over the years and why?

Whoa that's hard! I loved CWC and Thai Wake Park how it was like 3 years ago. I already loved 313 Cablepark in Lithuanian when I was there 3 years ago, and would love to go there again because now it’s become really insane. 

And how many countries have you visited for wakeboarding already?

Haha a lot! The Netherlands is so small that within an hour I can be in two other countries and like 8 more within an 8 hours drive. I might forget something but I have counted 11 so far. 

How do you finance to travel all over the world, and what are you doing right now next to wakeboarding?

I’ve had a lot of jobs to finance it. When traveling I mostly work online, for example: translating, customer service and copywriting jobs. During the summer I was usually operating. 

Now I’m doing a master's at Uni and I did a full-time internship (5 days sitting in the office) until July, so now it’s mainly my student loan (future me) paying. Slingshot is also helping me out with travel expenses this year, which makes stuff a lot easier! 

Any plans for the future or better, what does your perfect future look like?

I haven’t planned my future further than a few months ahead. But I hope to just wakeboard and travel and stay in this world for a while! 

We rode a lot together the last few years and I can tell you are a perfectionist. Would you say it is something positive or do you think it gets in your way in some situations?

Ah, I can be yeah. I think in general everyone is harder on themselves than on others. 

When it comes to riding I think it can be a good thing, since it makes me do a trick a million times until it’s perfect, which is good practice to get it on lock. 

For filming, it can be annoying though, and for social media. I’m horrible at posting consistently cause I want my content to be perfect, which results in me just posting nothing at all. 

Tell us about your first Winch Experience?

Haha this was with you at Valdosta. Not the best experience! We had a massive crew so we only had two pulls each. There was an insane current that made it so hard just to start and get in and out of the water that I didn’t even touch the spot. 

After that my first time winching was while filming for Spacetapes with the Lemonade normal crew. I think my crash from that is still what I’m most famous for in wakeboarding ;). Regardless, Sam, Liam, and Gino were amazing at teaching me how to winch and now I love it! (at least when the spot works) 

Uh never gonna forget that clip of you! What do you wish more from Wakeboarding?

Wakeboarding is a tiny sports community that not a lot of people know about, which is amazing on the one hand. But I would love for more people to know about it, try it and enjoy it! 

If you could change something what would it be?

I hope the wakeboarding community will learn to take women's wakeboarding just as seriously as men’s wakeboarding in the future. I think for example Claudia is already showing that girls are not inferior when it comes to tricks and pushing the sport. I think a lot has improved already, but I sometimes hear stories from other female wakeboarders that really make me cringe. 

Sometimes I would love someone to tell me….You can still do everything in choppy water :) 

I love to ride with… The crew at Down Under, my local park, and with other girls in general :) 

One of my Favorite Riders (male or female) is right now….. It’s hard to choose!  I’m forever Maryh’s biggest fan. I also love the riding of Sam de Haan, Matty Muncey, Jules Charraud and many more! 

Favorite Feel Good Trick right now?

Nosepress everything! Riding the Slingshot Volt basically taught me how to nosepress, and it just feels so good! 

Any words to the cats out there?

Let’s have a fun session together, let me know if you’re ever around :)

Pictures by Chris Lehnert