East County resident's mantra — Just Doo it

There’s a world champion athlete living in East County, and chances are you have never heard his name.

It’s Troy Snyder, and his sport is racing Jet-Skis. Well, technically it’s racing on a “personal watercraft,” since Jet-Ski is trademarked by Kawasaki.  

The man has done it all in an obscure sport. In 1994, when he got his start, it was much more popular. Young adults could buy a Sea-Doo for a few thousand dollars (or convince their parents to purchase one as a birthday present) and get their start that way. Heck, that’s how Snyder himself got started. His friend, Mark Stewart, had purchased one, and the pair used to ride it or fun in the gulf. Snyder bought his own soon after. Racing thrived, but with rising interest came rising costs of watercrafts (Snyder has paid $16,000 for one, pre-racing modifications), and the talent pool thinned.

Snyder, now 45, stuck with the sport, even after taking a break from 1998-2008 to start a family and his business, Snyder Built Construction, Inc. At the time, he thought he was done forever. Racing is only a hobby for Snyder, after all, and an expensive one. He channeled his competitiveness into his day job and succeeded. After a while, though, a funny thing happened.

He got bored. He needed a new challenge, or rather an old one. Racing has always been in Snyder’s DNA, having conquered a dirt bike at age 5 and an all-terrain vehicle at age 12. Once his business boomed, the racing itch returned. Snyder also wanted to return for a different reason: To teach his son, Tory Snyder, now 14, how to be a competitor. Jennifer Snyder, Troy's wife, said her son was a bit of a shy kid. He didn't have that "killer instinct" that he would need in order to be a great athlete like his father. 

"Basically, the last 10 years of his life, he's watched me go in the gym every morning and work out," Troy Snyder said. "He's watched me race. He's watched me (figuratively) fight guys on the beach, basically, and have that mentality of 'Hey, we are going to win, we are taking this seriously.' I didn't tell him how to do it, I showed him."

The young Snyder is on Braden River High's freshman football team now, and working hard to be the best he can be, his parents said.

At the time of his racing break, Snyder hadn’t reached his goal of becoming a world champion, though he did finish second in 1997. With extra motivation in tow after his return, Snyder has now done it all, winning two International Jet Sports Boating Association World Championships (2010, 2014), which is the most-respected world championship in the sport. He's also won multiple national championships, the most recent one being the Pro Watercross National Championship in July. 

There’s a flip-side to success, though, and Snyder has been there, too. Once, at a race in Alabama, Snyder collided with a rider named Eric Francis, who has been going the wrong way. The collision sank Snyder’s ride, literally. He was fine after that race, but years of racing and other athletic activity have taken a toll. This summer, Snyder had a titanium disk placed in his neck. He rested for three weeks before racing again. It’s not his style to take it easy.

People ask Snyder if he’s thinking about retiring from the sport all the time. His answer, without fail, is constant. “Why quit?” he tells them, and I can hear the confidence in his voice as he says it. “I’ll quit when I start losing. If they (younger competitors) start to beat me, it won't be any fun for me at that point. I’m not going to travel for a race to finish in fourth place.”

He doesn’t think that will happen any time soon, but maybe you should start paying attention to his historic racing career now, just in case.