Dallas Friday said she always wanted to be an athlete. The Orlando native started gymnastics at an early age, but by the time she was 12, she transitioned to the water.
"The first time I got out on the water, I've never really turned back since," the 28-year-old wakeboarder said.
Friday's fun times on the lake turned into her passion. Over the last decade, she has become one of the top wakeboarders in the world.
"I've won one of every different type of championship that there's ever been," she said.
Her passion is now her profession. Friday makes a living and loves making waves as a professional wakeboarder.
Her most recent splash: Being featured in ESPN The Magazine's 2015 "Body Issue," in which athletes are photographed in their sport, au naturel.
ESPN touts this special issue, which hit stores Friday, as a way for athletes to show off their artistic side — their artwork being their own sculptured bodies.
- Dalls Friday interview on espnW: Friday: 'We make the insane and unreasonable become possible'
"It's funny, because you know, I've always been a big fan of the Body Issue," said Friday. "I think it's incredible how an athlete can really tell a story about, maybe, the struggles they've been through."
One of Friday's struggles, she said, was making it through the photoshoot naked and freezing on a frosty February morning.
"Stripping down, it was pretty cold, but luckily I can say I didn't fall the whole photo shoot," she said.
Friday added she hopes the photos are inspirational to women, no matter what size or shape.
"To be comfortable in their own skin, and find their passion and pursue it," she said.