Malibu Pro Athlete Stacia Bank is a professional wakesurfer hailing from Minneapolis. A Malibu Boats and Phase 5 team rider, Stacia is a decorated athlete who even holds a Guinness World Record for the most spins in one minute on a wave behind a boat. As a high-performance wakesurfer, Stacia only trusts Malibu Boats to consistently deliver the wakes that she expects and requires for her training. Her boat of choice is the 2025 Malibu M230, one of Malibu's latest and greatest wake boats. But to Stacia, her boat is much more than her gateway to world records. For her & her family, it's their key to family unity.
Like so many other watersports enthusiasts, Stacia credits her love for the water and watersports with a childhood spent on the water. "Growing up around the water, it just became part of my soul. I believe that the water can be calming; it can be energizing. It can be peaceful, it can be comforting. The water has a lot of healing properties to it; that first plunge resets you. You just get in there and you come out like a new person. I think water is really a magical energy that is kind of the center of who I am," she explained.
"The truth is that nature and water connect us all. The closer we can be to nature and water, the more connected we feel."
Stacia's passion for nature is a core part of who she is; an extension of her spiritual life. "Nature is honestly a preview of heaven, and I feel that if I can be still in nature, I see more things; things that I may not have seen had I just been rushing through life," she said.
If you have ever gone into nature and felt immediately calmer, you are not alone: Stacia feels that way, too. "You think about all of the noise and things that are going on in all of our lives, and then you come to a place like the woods, and you see these old trees, and you just feel calmer."
OVERCOMING INJURY TO ACHEIVE GLORY
Soon after becoming a parent for the second time, Stacia experienced an injury that impacted her ability to do the things she loved the most. "After my second son was born, I had a freak fall and ended up fracturing my ankle. It was a really tough year during which I had to have surgery." Stacia's husband, Chris Bank, described what happened next. "We kind of fell into wakesurfing during that time while she was healing. Unbeknownst to her, the 2010 World Wakesurf Championships were happening in Minneapolis. I had signed us up and only told her about it, about a week in advance."
Chris' secret came as a pleasant surprise to Stacia. "I think my husband - being the smart man that he is - knew that a driven person like me, needed some sort of goal. My goal for the tournament was just to ride at it. I had been on crutches most of that year."
The result was spectacular, as Chris explained. "At that World Championship, Stacia ended up winning!"
But for Stacia, the win was memorable and meaningful for unexpected reasons. "More than the win or the podium, I just remember that my final run was at the end of the day. The sun was coming down and my kids, husband, and mother-in-law were all on the shore clapping for me... and I just knew it was going to be okay," she recalled, tearfully.
"The water has always been a part of my life. It has energized and supported me. It has calmed me. It has just been there for me. So that's a big part of my Truth."
Chris and Stacia's daughter, Ryan, shared how the family's passion for watersports has become a powerful binding force within their family. "We all share this connection, so even if we do different sports on the boat, we all still connect onboard and it brings us all closer together.
Stacia agreed. "My family has found the magic in the water also. It's been a really fun journey because my kids have become teachers, and they get to spread it and give their friends this genuine experience."
"The truth is that for our family, boating is the great unifier; it's what brings us together," she continued. "We all authentically put our phones down and just enjoy that time together. That disconnection is one of my favorite things about it, too."