We're stoked on our newest skate recruit, Jake Yanko. This Florida-native is already making a name for himself on the circuit, so we caught up to interview him for Athlete of the Week.
What’s going on? What have you been working on lately?
Nothing much at the moment! Just trying to skate as much as I can while still studying for my finals haha.
Any new tricks you really want to master this season?
I usually just end up randomly thinking of a trick or tricks I should learn while I’m skating, but recently I’ve been trying to get used to doing more flip tricks in bowl and on vert, as well as 540 variations and stuff like that. Spin to win, right?
Big travel plans coming up?
I’m going to California for a couple weeks and Woodward Pennsylvania for weeks 8, 9, and 10 this summer. Also, I might be staying in Washington with my friend Taylor for a couple weeks this summer! That’s not certain though.
Favorite place you’ve ever travelled?
California’s cool and all but I’m definitely gonna go with Sweden. In mid-April, I was fortunate enough to leave the U.S. for the first time to go to Malmö, Sweden to compete in Vert Attack. I got to skate parks I’ve always wanted to skate, such as the Vans Park Series park and Stapelbäddsparken, and street spots I never thought I’d see in person, especially the graffiti’d up wallride spot that the Polar guys always skate. I also got to experience being in a place where English wasn’t the main spoken language for the first time, which was really interesting to me, especially watching TV and ordering food! And I got to experience all of this with old and new friends I met while I was there! It was the best week of my life so far.
What’s your go-to wind down activity? Favorite thing to watch, read, do?
Mostly just hanging out with friends, watching skate videos and South Park, and eating. I also play guitar, but I’ll go through phases where I’ll play a lot and not play at all.
One snack you can’t live without….
Lays sea salt poppables or Ben n Jerry’s “TheTonight Dough”
If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have 3 things what would they be…
A fire starter, a machete, and a pot to make water safe to drink. Yes, I’ve watched Naked and Afraid.
Any last shout out’s or thank you’s
First off, thanks for giving me Athlete of the Week! I wanna thank Welcome, Vans, Mob, Bronson, Pro-Tec, Arcade belts, Catalyst surf shop, Cellairis, Ryan Clements/TheBoardr, and you fellas at Monster Army for believing in me and for all of the support, it means a lot! Big shoutout to Florida, as well as Jack S. and all of the Fort Lauderdale boys, Kobi, Madison, Rodney’s ramp crew, and everyone else not mentioned for always being there and for always being genuine, awesome friends. Quick thanks to Herman, Peter, Otto, Elias, and Nicklass for helping me out in Sweden, cant wait to see y’all again! Last, definitely my parents for sacrificing their time and money to raise me, care for me, bring me where I need/want to go, and push me in the right direction. I don’t know where I’d be without them, I love them to death! <3
