Try shooting your subject from different angles, times of day, distances, etc., instead of taking one picture and moving on.
For example, the picture on the left was taken further away, and around late afternoon. See how the angle of the sun highlights one half of the teen’s body, thus emphasizing him against the dark backdrop of the bridge. The picture on the right was taken early evening, when the sun was behind the hill, but because of the angle of the camera, and the proximity of me to the teen, you can easily see her against the water.
Another thing to remember when you’re taking actions shots, is to take tons of pictures. In the end, only a few of them might work, so you don’t want to risk missing that perfect shot because you only took a couple. When your subject is moving, it’s hard to capture the exact moment unless you’ve taken lots of pictures. And even then, there’s no guarantee.