The Patriot Press has written about many of Liberty’s sports and athletes, but there’s still one we haven’t covered: hydroplane racing.

Sophomore Caden Cole’s family is full of hydroplane racers. He and his sister, eighth-grader Catalina Cole, travel around Washington and Idaho for their local competitions, but with both in the top 6 in the US, they’ve traveled as far as Michigan.

“My sister and I are 1st and 2nd on the West Coast and 3rd and 6th overall in the nation,” Cole said.

For their sport, they make their own boats, with their family name, “Cole Racing”, written on the side.

“I built my hydroplane with my grandpa in our garage, ” Cole said.

Although their racing season has been delayed during the quarantine, they’re still preparing and making a new boat.

“It’s going to be a new design. It’s a long pointy windshield, trying to get the boat to cut through the air smoother and put less force on the boat,” Cole said.

A lot of work is put into Cole’s sport and his boats, and for good reason. He loves racing and has his goals set for the future.

“I’m definitely going to keep racing. I want to be one of the best in the nation by the end of high school,” Cole said.