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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The 2023 ski season is set to begin at Fluid with our first record competition of the year…the Ski Fluid Classic this coming weekend, April 28-30.

There are some big names on the starting list including:

• numerous time Jump World Champion and Record Holder, Freddy Krueger,
• current World Trick Record Holder, Pato Font,
• former World Trick Champion, Neilly Ross.
• current U17 World Overall and Jump Champion, Martin Labra.

Along with a ton of other top National competitors.

We are hoping to get the year off to a great start with some amazing performances. The action begins on Friday at 7:45am with Tricks and continues with all 3 events through Sunday afternoon.

The current schedule and running order has now been posted to the tournament page or can be found at this link:

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-Ski-Fluid-Classic-Running-Order-1.pdf

See you at Fluid!

The 2022 Ski Fluid Classic is only a few days away and we are excited to host our first record tournament for this year!

Below is a tentative schedule and running order for the event.

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-Ski-Fluid-Classic-Running-Order.pdf

Included this year is 10-time Masters Champion Freddy Krueger, World Trick Record Holder Erika Lang, the No 1 ranked trick skier in the World Patricio Font and U21 World Champion Neilly Ross, along with a host of other National Champions and Record Holders.

The tournament will start at 7:30 each day with Tricks, followed by Slalom, then Jump with non-stop action all day.

All competitors must ensure their USAWS membership and EMS license is current, registration, waivers and payment has been made through the WWS system and their SafeSport certification is completed.

The USAWS Waiver can be completed online at:

https://skifluid.com/liability-waivers/

Spectators are welcome with ample free parking.

Drop by Action Water Sports in between watching or competing to check the 2022 MasterCraft line-up and their fully-stocked Pro-Shop.

See you at Fluid!

 

The 2021 Florida Water Ski Federation Junior Development Clinic held this past weekend at Ski Fluid was a great success!!

Almost 20 young talented kids joined us for a fun day on the water. Ages ranged from 4 to 15 years old and abilities ranged from first timers to national record holders! It was great to see everyone supporting each other, cheering each moment of progress and so many new friendships made.

We were extremely lucky to have the expertise of a number of top coaches including Kyle Eade, Taylor Garcia, Kevin Jack, Freddy Krueger, Aaron Larkin and Russell Gay…big thanks to all for helping out!

Also thanks to the event sponsors – Huston Motors, Action Water Sports, MasterCraft and Ski Fluid as well as a special mention and much appreciation to Nicole Pauley for the organization.

We hope to see all these young Florida skiers continue their progress this season and hit some local tournaments in the near future.

Last Friday and Saturday, some of the best skiing ever at a professional event was witnessed at Ski Fluid! On October 23rd and 24th the 2020 MasterCraft Pro presented by Action Water Sports took place behind the brand new 2021 Pro-Star…records were set, spectators were amazed and the event was a huge success.

Fifty of the world’s elite skiers competed over two days in Men’s Slalom, Women’s Slalom and Men’s Jump. The qualification rounds were hotly contested with a ton of personal best performances and 2 records…Manon Costard running 1.5@41 for a new European record and Felipe Miranda flying 233ft for his Chilean record.

After these 2 preliminary rounds the field was cut to the top 6 in each event to battle it out for the title on Saturday afternoon.

Men’s Slalom came down to a 3 way run-off for first, with Freddie Winter, Nate Smith and Thomas Degasperi all running 5@41! Nate Smith prevailed in the run-off completing 41off for the 3rd time over the competition and scoring 1@43. Freddie Winter was a close second, only just pulling up short of 6 ball at 41.

Regina Jaquess once again proved her dominance in Women’s Slalom taking the win ahead of relative new-comer Elizabeth Montavon in second and Manon Costard in 3rd.

The event culminated in the Men’s Jump final which saw some amazing distances. First off the dock, team Fluid skier Jack Crictchley, launched his best jump ever and joined the 230ft club with 231ft or 70.4m. The rest of the field pushed hard all flying between 224ft and 229ft but no one could surpass his mark until the final skier off the dock. Freddy Krueger added the 2020 MasterCraft Pro Jump title to his resume on his second jump with 232ft eclipsing Critchley by only 0.2m! MasterCraft team skier, Taylor Garcia, rounded out the podium with 229ft for 3rd.

This event was sent live all over the world thanks to the WaterSki Broadcasting Company. With innovative camera angles, slow motion replays, dockside interviews, a panel of guest expert commentators and real-time audience competitions…the production rivaled shows by major sports networks and really brought the event to life for those at home.

If you missed it, head to our Fluid Events page or our WorldWaterSkiers club page for links to the full results and archived webcast.

A big thanks to the title sponsors of MasterCraft Boat Company and Action Water Sports along with all of the officials, volunteers and supporting sponsors:
Zero Off, Ski Fluid, WakeHouse.com, Connelly Skis, D3 Skis, HO, Goode, The Boarding School, Denali Skis, Ilmor, Johnson Propeller, GiveGo, Follow Ski Vests/Ropes, Stokes Skis, Edge Bindings, Radar Skis, Coble’s Ski School, McClintock’s Ski School, WhisperFin, Lead Wake, FlowPoint Method, Babes Boat Care.

Looking forward to the 2021 MasterCraft Pro!!