Ben Klein

Ben's story on how he got into watersports: I grew up in a recreational watersports family out on the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Huron. At 6 years old, I learned how to kneeboard behind a family friend’s twin outboard Mako, and fell in love with everything watersports behind our family’s 17ft Boston Whaler.

I learned how to water ski, wakeboard, and sit-down hydrofoil, but I eventually decided to focus on kneeboarding after being inspired by my Dad jumping the wake for years.

In 2021, I saw a video featuring John Haile teaching Dave OC and others how to backroll. This video introduced me to the world of performance kneeboards and the tricks that are possible. I soon after ordered myself a new board and started trying new tricks and learning everything I could from my new heroes online.

Now, I’m honored to be a part of the O'Brien team and call these heroes my friends. It’s been a wild ride, and I can’t thank Obrien, the whole team, and my family enough!