The WWS Travers Cup 2024 Wrap-up

Performing better than anyone in the history of sport is typically a rarity, something that so few have the privilege to achieve, yet when waterskiing comes to Jack Travers Sunset Lakes, the chances of witnessing a World Record increase dramatically. Looking back to the 2021 World Championships at Sunset Lakes, Joel Poland, and Dorien Llewellyn were both pushing the boundaries of the Overall World Record during the preliminary round, with Joel taking over the top seed and setting a new World Record in the process. Fast forward 3 years and throughout the WWS Travers Cup, 3 World Records were broken again here at Sunset Lakes, yet this time both in the Open and U17 category within the Pro event.

With the most competitive Overall field to date, the WWS Travers Cup preliminary round was immediately action-packed. The slalom round started off the fireworks with 3 skiers, namely Joel Poland (GBR), Edoardo “Edo” Marenzi (ITA), and Dorien Llewellyn (CAN), running through the 10.75m line length and many personal bests, all the competitors knew that they would need to bring their top form to make it through to the next round. Moving into the trick event, there were many top scores, with Joel, Dorien, Louis Duplan-Fribourg (FRA), and Martin Kolman (CZE), skiing strong enough scores to separate themselves from the rest of the field, but the battle for the last 2 spots in the final would be hotly contested between young guns Jake Abelson (USA), Martin Labra (CHI), and Edo. With Martin and Edo having a lower-than-expected trick score, they knew their jump scores would need to far surpass Jake’s, as the current World Trick Record holder put out a superb score of 12220. In the end, Jake would miss out on the spots in the finals, but jumping at a slower speed and lower ramp height typically designated for the U17 division, he instead set a new Pending U17 Overall World Record. In addition, Joel would join Jake in the World Record endeavor, as he set another Pending Open Overall World record as well.

As the skiers reset for final day, many of the skiers had aspirations of undoing Joel’s current dominance on the Overall crown, seeing the perfect conditions of Sunset Lakes as a chance to put their own mark in the history of waterskiing. Beginning once again with the slalom event, many of the previous days’ personal best were seemingly hard to come by. Among the biggest upsets of the final round of slalom were Dorien Llewellyn falling at the first buoy at 10.75m, which would prove a massive hole to climb out of for the Canadian, Louis Duplan-Fribourg missing the 11.25m line length, and Martin Kolman finishing with a score of 3@10.75m. With Edo Merenzi midway through the 10.75m line length and Martin Labra missing his 11m line length pass, the field was understandably frustrated with their slalom performances, knowing the monster that was about to come. Joel Poland smelt blood in the water and powered his way through 10.75m, as he often does, to give himself a commanding lead straight out of the gate, finishing with 2@10.25m. Now it was up to the field to catch up through tricks.

Overall is often considered to “live or die” by the trick event, with the potential swing of scores anywhere from 0 to over 12000 points. One mistake can completely upend an overall round. Thus, standing up both trick passes was critical for all the finalists, which almost every skier was able to do. Outside of a frustrating fall for Marenzi, all of the finalists finished with a trick score between 11520 and 12030, which created a dramatic podium race with only one problem, Joel’s score was the 12030-point lead. On another World Record pace, Joel would have to make a large mistake in the jump event to relinquish his hold on the Travers Cup title, yet, the battle between Dorien, Louis, and Martin was increasingly tightening and would come down to whoever won in jump, with Dorien and Martin virtually deadlocked and Louis just behind, needing to make up about 2m in distance to surpass them for 2nd place.

Once again, Sunset Lakes proved to be one of the premier jump sites on the planet, with beautiful conditions allowing the skiers to push themselves to the limit. Young superstar Martin Labra found the stronger wind challenging, looking frustrated with a personal best 207ft jump, knowing there was much more to be found on such a great jump lake. Martin would finish 5th off the podium, but for a 2024 debut from the 18-year-old, it was certainly a mighty strong showing for the future to come along with Jake Abelson. Martin Kolman would be the first to take the water of the podium hopefuls, looking his strongest on tour and finishing with another personal best of 213ft, signaling to the rest of the field that he would not go down without a fight. Next, Dorien Llewellyn, who has struggled to find his form in jump so far this year, showed a glimpse of his old self on jump number 1, flying 219ft through the air a given a small fist bump, which looked to be equal to parts of relief that he had finally found a rhythm or the excitement that he landed himself ahead of Martin Kolman.

Coming down to our final 2 competitors, everything would still be on the line for Louis Duplan-Fribourg. Thriving in strong headwind conditions due to his physical strength, Louis rounded the 600ft buoy and charged into the ramp with ample speed, letting the strong boat pull him to another personal best score of 227ft, a new French National Record and also the lead ahead of Dorien. Finally, it was Joel’s event to lose. Coming into his turn a bit slower than Louis, Joel turned extremely patiently for the ramp, making his approach to the ramp increasingly later with each passing millisecond until the boat roared him through the top of the ramp and a solid opening jump of 222ft. The win was his, but he would need to find a little bit more for a second consecutive Overall Record. With Dorien Llewellyn as the only person to ever break an Overall Record twice in the same tournament, Joel pushed himself to the limit on each jump to join Dorien on that list. Building speed and float on each jump, Joel would finish jumps 2 and 3 with scores of 225ft and 228ft, giving him his second World Record of the weekend and capping a run of sheer dominance this year with only one WWS Overall Tour Stop left to go.

With his 3rd consecutive WWS Overall Tour title secured, Joel’s dominance in the sport continues. But the battle for the remaining podium spots is far from over, as Dorien, Louis, and Martin are all in contention for year-end bonus money and bragging rights, with only 20 points separating them.

All water ski fans are invited to be part of this electric atmosphere at the next stop—WWS Fluid on October 18-19. Get ready to witness more world-class performances and record-breaking moments! Check the WWS Fluid Event page for all the details and come out to support these incredible athletes as they push the sport to new heights.

A special thanks goes out to the incredible team that made this event possible! Huge shoutout to the Travers Crew: Lelani, Jack, Chris, Jon & Nati Travers, Mary & Ron Koenig, Shannon & Branden Waters, Becky Lathrop, Martin Bartalsky, Dan Abrascia & Deb Gradick, Kerry & Mike Morgan, Emily Dammeyer, Christina Delka Rocca, Cole McCormick, Kyle Eade, Cyndi Benzel, Jaimee Bull, Rob Hazelwood, Lauren Morgan, Jenna Morgan, Giannina & Dane Mechler, Felipe & Rodrigo Miranda, and Stevie Collins—what a team!

Also, a big thank you to our WWS team: Tom & David Grey, Alastair Byrd, Steven Farley, Johnny Hayward, Curtis William, Britta & Jaret, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to build a platform that strengthens the foundation of the sport we all love!

 

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Travers Cup -3rd Stop on WWS Overall Tour 

Presented By Girl Loves A Sunset

The stage is set, the athletes are primed, and the world’s top waterskiers are heading to Groveland, Florida for the third stop of the WWS Overall Tour—the Travers Cup! Held at the legendary Jack Travers’ Sunset Lakes on September 21-22, this is your chance to witness the most thrilling waterski competition of 2024.

Why should you be there?

Sunset Lakes is universally hailed as one of the best waterski venues in the world, and for good reason. With limit-pushing performances and top athletes competing at their peaks, this event is set to be an all-out battle for the title. Joel Poland GBR, fresh off a Pending Overall World Record and a dominating season, is looking look to further cement his grasp on the tour title with another victory. But, the Travers Cup will also play host to the highest quality of challengers seen this year, with Dorien Llewellyn CAN, Martin Kolman CZE, and Louis Duplan-Fribourg FRA, all looking stronger than ever in practice this week. Even further, young superstars Martin “Tincho” Labra CHI, and Jake Abelson USA, will make their 2024 tour debuts on Sunset Lakes and are ready to shake things up. Joel may be in peak form, but with the strength of his challengers turned up to the max, this event looks to be anyones for the taking!

But the WWS Travers Cup is more than just an elite competition. It’s a family-friendly event that gives you the chance to meet your favorite skiers, enjoy the beautiful lakeside atmosphere, and dive into the world of waterskiing. Come experience the energy, meet the athletes, and get in on the action both in person and online. Not in Florida? No problem! Catch all the heart-stopping action live on the webcast on September 22 for the finals. You won’t want to miss a second of it.

So mark your calendars for September 21-22, head out to Sunset Lakes, and be part of the action. This is waterskiing at its finest—where legends are made, and records are broken.

For all the details, visit the WWS Travers Cup event page

or find all the stops of the tour at WorldWaterskiers.com/tours.

 

The Jump Off: A Passing of the Torch or a Glitch in the System?

Two jumpers remain. As they watch the coin fall they already know what they will choose if they win the toss. Go out first to put pressure on their singular opponent? Or go out knowing the score needed to win the inaugural Canada Cup in front of thousands of cheering fans, eagerly awaiting the jump-off to crown a champion. As the coin fell only one could win, only one would take home the glory of one of the best jump finals in recent times.

As the skiers landed on the shores of the Saskatoon Water Ski Club for practice before the WWS Canada Cup, the wind conditions were less than cooperative, both the men’s and women’s jumpers found it challenging to simply go over the ramp, battling upwards of 40-60kph (25-35mph) wind gusts. Yet as the event window started, glimmers of hope continued to appear through the proceeding days, requiring both skiers and event organizers to be on their toes at all times, ready to jump into action as soon as nature allowed for ramping.

 

The first round of competition saw the top women jumpers in the world take to the water first. Hanna Straltsova continues her domination, having just come off a win at the California ProAm only days before, with a 54.3m (178ft) jump. Following her were the girls who have been fighting it out all year, namely Aliaksandra “Sasha” Danisheuskaya, Brittany “Britt” Greenwood, and Lauren Morgan, all roughly 2m apart, with Sasha leading the hunt for second with a 49.1m (161ft) jump. Rounding out the finalists was Valentina Gonzalez, who is making her return from injury late last year and continues to improve each round, edging closer and closer to the leading girls with each jump on her comeback.

On the men’s side of the field, Freddy “The Nightmare” Kreuger, also fresh off a Cali ProAm win, only needed one jump to secure the top seed, namely a 65.5m (215ft) jump. Kreuger was followed closely by red-hot Joel Poland and up-and-coming superstar Luca Rauchenwald. Rounding out the top 8 for the men were many of the tour veterans and names we have come to expect, such as Jack Critchley, Igor Morozov, and Taylor Garcia.

 

Moving into the finals, the women were faced with a tough mental challenge as the wind conditions picked up throughout the day as the event moved towards the 5 pm start time. Despite some nervous looks, the women braved the wind in front of a huge crowd of Canadians, who were being guided through cheers both from announcer Curtis Williams and DJ Steve Kushman. Once again, Hanna proved her might, winning on her second jump with a strong 52.6m (173ft) jump and even going back out to give the electrifying crowd a victory lap 3rd jump, which should be noted, was also far enough to take the title. Once again the fighting trio behind Hanna had a shake-up from the preliminary scores, with Britt leap-frogging Sasha to seal second place on a 49.7m (163ft) leap, which only slightly edge out both Sasha and Lauren, both finishing the event with 49.1m (161ft) scores.

As the crowd became more accustomed to the adrenaline of the jump finals, the men took to the water, starting with the Overall event jumpers. To the crowd’s delight, Canadian local heroes Thomas Daigle and Lucas Pinette kicked off the show, both nearing the 60m mark with each jump. Then the fireworks really began as Luca Rauchenwald set the lake on notice with a huge 66.1m (217ft) jump, the farthest of the tournament thus far. Then as the event moved into its final two jumpers, it didn’t appear as though Joel Poland would be able to best his Austria friend, coming into his last jump well short of the score, but, amid a building Viking clap from the fans, Joel found those precious centimeters to edge out Luca as the 66.3m (218ft) score appeared on the screen. Finally, Freddy Kreuger took to the water. Having been in fine form this year, many were surprised that Freddy was lagging behind both Joel and Luca coming in for his final attempt at the ramp, yet he too seemed to come away from his 3rd jump with the lead, only to throw his hands up in the air as 66.3m once again appeared on the scoreboard. Thus, ladies and gentlemen, we had a jump-off.

The 2 jump head-to-head jump-off would start off with Freddy choosing to go first, having won the coin toss. Once again turning in for the ramp with the Viking clap building as Freddy blasted into the bottom of the ramp, many cheered in admiration as the scoreboard read 66.6m (219ft), the furthest jump off the event once again. Then, as the sun continued to set, Joel returned to his arena, slipping on his first jump and leaving everything to one final cut, one final kick, and one final flight. The crowd cheered and clapped as Joel came flying into the bottom right-hand corner of the jump, soaring into the air, the jump was huge, everyone was thinking, but one man knew it. One man knew it so well that in the midst of his jump, Joel began to pump his fist into the air before he even landed. Screams filled the lake as both the crowd and Joel felt they had witnessed something special, regardless of who won. Yet, most everyone still eagerly awaited the score, not being as convinced as Joel that it was enough until the numbers hit the board, 6… 6… 9. Joel had jumped 66.9m (219ft) and had claimed the first-ever WWS Canada Cup crown.

 

As the champagne flowed from all directions on the podium, the crowd looked on in admiration, eagerly awaiting any announcement of the return of the WWS Canada Cup the next year. To their delight, event organizer and Canadian jumping legend, Jimmy Clunie, declared there would be a rematch between all these great skiers next year. Thus, as the sun went down and the skiers packed their bags, many were reminiscing, but many were also already mentally preparing for the next stop of the tour, namely the Mastercraft Pro at Ski Fluid on September 26-28. With the battles we have seen so far this year, every tour stop will be must must-watch action that you will certainly not want to miss.

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Austria’s most successful water skier, Britta Grebe-Llewellyn, once again brought the international pinnacle of action water sports to Upper Austria in the form of the WWS Salmsee Cup. On July 27 and 28, the best Overall skiers in the World competed in Slalom, Trick, and Jump at the Austrian stop of the World Water Skiers (WWS) Overall Tour in Steyregg. Grebe-Llewellyn and her husband, Jaret Llewellyn, a 9-time World Champion water skier himself, have now organized the event for five years and this year’s event was as exciting as ever. Great Britain’s Joel Poland defended his title from last year against his longtime rival out of Canada, Dorien Llewellyn, who made his return to the WWS Tour after missing all of 2023 due to an ankle injury.

 

 

With ten European Championship titles (in a row), two World Championship titles, and four world records, Britta Grebe-Llewellyn is one of the most successful female water skier of all time. Although the Gmunden native, no longer actively participates in competitions herself, she now shares her experience in athlete management and event organization, which includes putting together the WWS Overall Tour. Having completed the first event in Steyregg, she now sets her sights on the second stop of the tour in Canada, followed by the final two stops in Florida at what many consider to be the two best water ski lakes in the World.

At the WWS Salmsee Cup, the top six Overall skiers in the world battle the conditions and each other to see who was the king in Austria. You see, the special thing about the World Waterski Overall Tour is that the athletes have to prove their skills in the disciplines of slalom, tricks, and jumping, making the battle both one of physical and mental prowess.
The trio of favorites fighting for the title were last year’s tour Champion and World Record holder, Joel Poland, the reigning Overall world champion, Louis Duplon-Fribourg (FRA), and former World Record holder and 2021 World Champion, Dorien Llewellyn (CAN). In addition, Austrian Overall national champion, Alexander Gschiel, from Linz, and vice-national champion, Vincent Ahammer, from Gmunden, faced the international competition as hometown favorites. 

The incredible quality of the high-ranking starter field was evident immediately. Joel Poland led the way, scoring the highest scores in the Slalom and Jump disciplines. Ukrainian, Danylo Filchenko, finished close behind Poland with two personal bests and finished the day with the heights trick score of the day 12,340 in his WWS debut. Rounding out the top 3 was Dorien Llewellyn, who proved that he is inching closer to his best form after his injury break last year. Alexander Gschiel and Vincent Ahammer narrowly missed out on the finals, finishing 7th and 8th respectively, with Gschiel only falling short of Italy’s Edoardo Marenzi by a mere 20 Overall points, which, for example, corresponds to a difference of 0.8m in the jump event. However, both Austrians performed admirably well in the extremely strong field of six of the world’s best riders. 

Finals day started with the slalom competition, which started rainy and windy, but changed into a beautiful day. The men’s final day once again turned into an exciting thriller. Most of the field fought through what seemed like challenging conditions, but Joel Poland

put on a masterclass in slalom, pulling ahead to a commanding lead with 2.5@10.25m, 4.5 buoys ahead of Martin Kolman in second place, and Dorien Llewellyn and Edoardo Marenzi just behind in third. Moving into the trick event, Dorien took the lead with a commanding 11460-point score, which would only be narrowly eclipsed by Poland with a score of 11680, meaning Dorien would have to out-jump Joel by 4.5m to win the event. Louis Duplan-Fribourg would pull into third Overall behind Dorien with 11140 points, leaving Dorien with a 2.5m equivalent lead of Overall points over Louis heading into the jump event. Louis, the first of the three to jump, finished the event with the farthest jump score, namely 62.6m, which was enough to hold the lead in Overall until Dorien’s last jump, which was 61.2m. Finally, after failing to grab the victory from Dorien on his first jump, Poland secured the title with a 60.7m second jump and skied to the dock to the sound of applause from the awestruck audience on the shores of the Salmsee

With a total of 2949.47 points, the current world record holder won the heart-stopping final ahead of Dorien Llewellyn (2846.58) and defended his title from the two previous years. “The conditions were still challenging today due to the wind and everyone skied so well, which made it difficult. But of course, I’m over the moon with my third win here and I just love being here in Austria,” said Poland. In the end, the winner of the 2020 and 2021 Austrian stop, Dorien Llewellyn, was able to move up to second place.  “The competition [for me] was pretty good today, although my performance wasn’t at the same level as before my injury. But I did it cleverly, slalom was good enough, trick was good, but there should be more in there. The same as the jumping, but today I did what I needed. And to beat Joel, you just need super performances. But second place is a great start to the tour,” said, Dorien, delighted with his comeback from injury. Third place went to Frenchman Louis Duplon-Fribourg (2828.16). 

 

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