Reuters

While residents of Venice have been coping with one of the worst floods in the lagoon city for more than 20 years (Click here to see the post I've published just two days ago about this) , Duncan Zuur a famous wakeborder and Red Bull sponsored athlete took advantage of the adverse conditions to wakeboard through the city's famous St Mark's Square.

Everything happened at the speed of light on Tuesday: just a few minutes after 11 a.m., the high-water mark had reached 1.35 metres, equivalent to a good half metre of water covering St. Mark's Square.

Duncan Zuur's team pulled a compact, 20 horsepower motor winch from its hiding place and placed it under the square's arches. One team member, clad in rubber boots, pulled the winchs cable about 120 metres across the square and pressed one end firmly into the hand of Duncan Zuur, who had taken the opportunity to get into his wakeboarding gear. Four elegant turns later, the event was over prompting by a standing ovation from an astounding crowd of tourists.