Records Fall & Champions Crowned At WWS Flordia Cup

 

Here it is; 4 countries, 4 stops, 7 winners, 16 records, 2 Tour Champions, and 1 unbelievable year. The Florida Cup was the perfect cap to an unreal year. After an action-packed tour season, the Overall skiers pulled up to the record-setting shores of Ski Fluid, where most recently Jacinta Carroll became the first woman to jump 200ft, and Joel Poland and Dorien Llewellyn traded World Overall Records in 2021. Needless to say, expectations were high and the event did not disappoint.

Boasting the largest and most competitive female field a WWS event has seen, the Florida Cup was a staple as to how amazing the women’s event can be with the likes of Regina Jaquess, Anna Gay, Hanna Stratslova, and Valentina Gonzalez making their debuts. After having three different event winners this year, namely Paige Rini, Brooke Baldwin, and Kennedy Hansen, the question was if one of these three girls could become the first to win 2 titles in the same year. Unfortunately, Brooke, the tour leader heading into the event, sustained a back injury at the 3rd stop in Austria and was unable to compete. Nevertheless, the women put on a fierce battle from the onset of the preliminary round, with Regina breaking the WWS slalom record, finishing with a score of 1@10.25m, and Hanna breaking the WWS jump record, with a distance of 55.1m. Their performances were so strong in fact, that Kennedy would be knocked out of the event in the first round, thus, securing the Tour points lead and the WWS Overall Tour Title for Brooke Baldwin.

Heading into the women’s final were, in descending order of placement, Hanna, Regina, Paige, and Anna. Beginning with trick, Paige and Anna were considered to be the strongest competitors, but due to a couple miscues, Paige fell early in her toe pass, leaving her in a sizable hole right out of the gate. Anna, on the other hand, showed her World Champion stature, setting a new WWS trick record with a score of 10350 points. Moving into slalom, with Hanna sitting on 8410 and Regina back a bit more at 7130 they both need to step up going into there strong events. Regina, largely considered one of, if not the best slalom skiers of all time, once again put on a clinic in the course, tying her record from the first round with 1@10.25m. Vaulting her into 1st place of the Overall race. Still, the fight raged on, as Hanna powered her way to a personal best in slalom of 0.5@10.75, knowing her strongest event was yet to come. 

Thus, moving into jump, Regina led, Hanna was close behind, and Anna rounded out the podium. All four women jumped exceptionally well, with Paige Rini putting on a spirited performance in an attempt to retake a podium place, and Regina’s grit was on display with her solid jumping having only recently begun to truly recover from her ACL tear last year. But, it was Hanna who would not be denied, setting yet another WWS jump record, soaring 56.5m through the air, and thereby breaking Giannina Bonneman’s 2 year withstanding Overall record. With all the action this year and the return of Giannina next year, the stage has been set for what could be the most exciting season of Overall skiing in history.

 

On the Men’s side of the action, Dorien Llewellyn and Joel Poland once again looked to square off in their seemingly never-ending, heavyweight slugfest. With each of the Men having been to three stops, all 5 were guaranteed to make the finals, allowing for Dorien and Joel to push for high scores in the first round, which they absolutely did. Dorien, being ranked an equal 2nd with Louie Duplan-Fribourg heading into the event, was the first of the two to complete a WWS Overall record-breaking round of 5@10.75m, 11060 points, and a 67.8m jump, which also happened to be a new WWS Jump record. Only 1 minute later, Joel would improve upon Dorien’s score by a mere 5 overall points, with 5.5@10.75m, 11200 points, and a 67.1m jump! Thus, Joel would be the top seed in the finals, followed by Dorien, Martin Kolman, Edoardo Marenzi, and Tanguy Dialland, in that order.

 

Also beginning with the trick event, Martin Kolman reminded everyone why he is the 2019 Overall World Champion with a blistering trick score of 11730. Still, Dorien kept himself well within striking distance with his own score of 11360 with Joel still to trick. After a slightly early fall in toes, the expectation was that Joel would fire back with his impressive flip sequence, but shockingly, Joel fell after his second flip, potentially eliminating him from the title race. Additionally, Edo proved himself to be a future title contender with a personal best of 10790. Then in the slalom event, Martin, who had been seemingly struggling to find his form all year, picked the perfect moment to regain his winning ways, swerving to a solid score of 4@10.75m. Knowing that he was now the favorite to win the event, Dorien showed some nerves on his early passes but pulled himself together at the right time to power through the 10.75m line length, only to frustratingly fall at the final buoy. Yet, his score of 5.5@10.75m put him just 6 Overall points behind Martin and with his strength in jump, was a clear advantage to the Canadian. 

That being said, Martin would not go down without a fight. Despite only performing a 3/4 cut, Martin finished with the second-highest jump score of the round, an impressive 206ft jump, which Dorien would not beat after a 205ft first jump. Still, confident in his jumping, Dorien brought his cut later down the lake and boosted 219 and 220ft jumps to secure himself his first win of the 2022 season, finally able to stand atop the podium to spray the champagne. With these results, Dorien took sole ownership of the runner-up position in the tour standings and Martin found himself rounding out the podium in 3rd place, with Joel Poland’s year-long success leading to his first WWS Overall Tour Title and the golden champions bib for the 2023 season.

The 2022 Florida Cup is only days away and we cannot wait to host the best Overall skiers in the world at Ski Fluid. They will be battling it out for event title, the tour title and some big paychecks!

The Men’s Overall World Record was broken 3 times at Ski Fluid in 2021 and a past Women’s World Overall Record was set at Ski Fluid several years ago. With the caliber of skiers we have on the entry list, there is a good chance more records will be set to finish the 2022 season in style.

The Overall Pros will be skiing their preliminary rounds alongside some top amateur competitors on Friday starting at 7:45am. The Overall finals (Top 4 Women and Top 5 Men) will be webcast live starting at 1pm on Saturday. If you live in the Central Florida area come out and watch…if not tune into the webcast (link on the tournament page).

A link to the full schedule and running order is below:

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022-Florida-Cup-Running-Order-1.pdf

Looking forward to a great event and an awesome after party at Elixir downtown Orlando!

 

The 2022 Fluid Fall Record is scheduled for this coming weekend starting Friday the 2nd September at 8am through Sunday 4th September.

The schedule and running order has been posted below and we are looking forward to a great competition with a number of the world’s best in the line-up.

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-Fluid-Fall-Record-Running-Order-1.pdf

Several world records were broken at Fluid last year…will we see another in 2022??!!

 

“Women throwdown all the way to the end”

“Can The Story Get Better?”

While the men’s overall battles over the last two years have been highly anticipated and tightly contested, the Women at the WWS Calgary Cup this last weekend showed that there should be just as much excitement around them as well. Brooke Baldwin, Aliaksandra “Sasha” Danisheuskaya, and Kennedy Hansen sent out a signal to their male overall counterparts, telling them to get ready to share the spotlight. Just as with the men, the women’s overall battle raged up to the very final jump of the event, with the results being determined by only a few feet.

To begin the day, Brooke, having fallen early in the prelims and being the first on the water, continued her fine form of slalom, yet was visibly disappointed with her final score of 3.5@11.25. Given her recent string of scores at 10.75, Sasha and Kennedy knew this was a golden opportunity to strike. Kennedy, the next in the water, took the lead, narrowly eclipsing Brooke with a strategic 4@11.25 final score. Finally, Sasha, knowing her strength would come through in the trick event but even more so in Jump, finished with a solid opening event and a score of 2@11.25. Given their strengths in each event, Sasha was considered to have gained the upper hand coming out of slalom.

Yet, the story of overall can take many twists and turns throughout the course of a single day. Brooke decided to take some risk and performed her hard-hands tricks run, starting with the Mobe Back to Backs. Nimbly flowing through each 20-second pass, she finished with a score of 7470. Next up, Kennedy, a rookie on the tour and skiing in her first WWS event, unfortunately falling early in her first run, but still managing 6020 points. Finally, Sasha, knowing that Brooke was putting pressure on her to perform in front of the large Canadian crowd, skied well, but missed a couple crucial tricks to both judges’ decisions, time, and a fall in toes, causing her score to fall from 8030 points in the first round, to 6790 in the second. While the scales were beginning to tip in Brooke’s favor, the jump event still would decide everything.

First on the water due to jumping at the 5’ ramp height, Kennedy looked strong with a score of 42.4m. But her deficit after Trick would be difficult to surmount, as Brooke soared to 46.7m on just a 3/4 cut. Finally, Sasha, knowing she would need a score in excess of 49m, put forth a valiant effort on all three jumps, pushing the battle just to the limit, but ultimately falling just short with a score of 48.2m. 

With her maiden win on the WWS tour, Brooke will take over from Paige Rini as the new tour rankings leader heading into the third stop in Fischlham, Austria. Brooke, Kennedy, and all the other girls will be looking to secure their placements on the tour leaderboard, with Brooke able to clinch the tour title with a win in Austria. Yet, the overall crown is never won until the final jump is done, so be sure to catch all the action on August 20 and 21! Things are about to get even more interesting!

For all the fans that came out and were stunned by what these amazing athletes can do on the water, mark your calendars for next year, the WWS Tour, WILL be back! We look forward to seeing you down at the most beautiful site in the world, The Lakes Of Cast And Stone!

Full WWS Tour Points Standing 

Full Photo Gallary Of the WWS Calgary Cup – Johnny Hayward

THE MEN OVERALL RECAP STORY

Lacanau Always delivers Insane Scores!

As the sun set on the pristine beaches of Lacanau last Sunday, the lakes of (Lacanau Ski Club) finally settled from the excitement of the Lacanau Overall Cup and the Malibu Open. Both of these professional events brought about incredible skiing and hard-fought victories, with the Malibu Open representing some of, if not the highest scores ever seen in a professional slalom event. In order to move on to the finals on the men’s side of the competition, skiers had to finish with a score of 3@10.25m or higher. Continuing on the high-scoring trend, the finals displayed a three-way tie for the lead between Dane Mechler, Jon Travers, and Brando Caruso at 4@10.25m with only one skier remaining on the dock, namely top-seeded skier Nate Smith. Nate, who has been in incredible form this entire year, turned the first 3 buoys expertly at 10.25m and did not hesitate to turn the 4th buoy, seemingly never considering the possibility of skiing for a tie, and comfortably swinging out around the 5th and 6th buoys to run through yet another 10.25m pass.

In the women’s slalom event of the Malibu Open, there was a tough three-way North American battle between Canadian Paige Rini and Brooke Baldwin and Ali Garcia from the United States. Sandra Bottas was the only skier from another
continent to qualify for the four women final. Despite skiing quite well, Sandra wasn’t able to overtake the other three, who had each finished with a score on the 10.75m in at least one round. With the requirement to start at 13m, leading to a tailwind 11m pass, both Ali and Sandra were unable to clear the rope length, finishing with a score of 3.5 and 2 buoys respectively. Next up, Brooke Baldwin, who had been increasing her scores at 10.75 each round of the competition, styled her way through the 11m tailwind pass and finished with 3@10.75m, the highest score of any woman in the event. Coming off the dock as the top seed, Paige Rini handle the pressure well and also made fine work of the 11m line length. Yet, the prospect of needing 3 buoys proved challenging, as Paige turned the 1st buoy too hard for her to be able to hold the angle through the wakes, leaving Paige short inside 2 ball and on the second step of the podium.

As the skiers move on to the next stop of the European circuit, the skiers look back on their time in Lacanau and reminisce on a truly unforgettable experience. The site, the people, the city, the beach, all in all, the memories will last a lifetime and we are already looking forward to next year. If you have not been to Lacanau this city and ski club need to be on your bucket list, they are truly one of the best on the planet. Lacanau is not just an incredible ski site, but with private villas available for rent, a pool, and an incredible restaurant right at the dock   with the friendliest staff you can imagine, it is truly a special place. If you want to get a moment outside of the resort the ocean is 10 minutes away with endless restaurant options right on the beach where you can watch some of the best sunsets imaginable. But as the sun sets on Lacanau, WWS is off to Calgary, Canada, for the second stop of the WWS Overall Tour. On July 29-31 the battle continues to see who will take out the Overall Tour Title.

 

See full WWS Lacanau Cup Overall Story

A Special thank you for all the long hours it takes to put on an event of this level. Hats off to Geraldine, Christophe, the Jamin family, the staff, judges, volunteers, and especially to the sponsors, which are special friends of the water ski community that wants to give back. So please check out the names at the bottom or on the Event Page and drop a personal thank you for their support, it is what builds a stronger foundation for our sport!

Thanks to Eudes M-Tivier for the great shots all weekend –

Friday – Saturday – Slalom

Sunday – Overall finals 

This club is the real deal, not just world-class coaching – a full pro shop, marine sale and repair, Villa Rental, and dockside Restaurant (Lèau à la bouche), and a world-class beach 10 mins away.

Lacanau Ski Club

The 2022 Polk City Open will kick off this Friday 15th July with 3 days of some of the world’s best waterski action. A tentative Schedule and Running Order has now been posted to the tournament page or the link can be found below:

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-Polk-City-Open-Running-Order-1.pdf

Headlining the starting list will be multiple time World Champion and Record Holder, Freddy Krueger, and current Women’s World Trick Record Holder, Erika Lang. The field also includes numerous international skiers including a large contingent from Chile, Australia, and New Zealand along with a number of top US Junior skiers.

We are looking forward to a great event!!

 

 

This coming weekend, the Lacanau Ski Club will bring together the world’s best slalom and overall skiers. Slalom superstars such as World Champion and World Record Holder Nate Smith, Dane Mechler, Jon Travers, and Moomba Master’s Champion Vennessa Vieke. On the Overall end, the event will feature current World Champion and World Overall Record Holder Joel Poland, the Former World Record Holder and World trick Champion Dorien Llewellyn, as well as Brooke Baldwin and Paige Rini, who will both be looking to make their mark in the Overall World Tour over the weekend. The Lacanau ski club, one of the premier sites in the world, has put on countless international events, and the site claims the 1st 230-foot jump by Jaret Llewellyn (CAN), 1st run over 12,000pt by Nicolas Le Forestier (FR), and 1st full 10.25m by Jamie Beauchesne (USA) performed in a pro event.

The Lacanau Ski club is a world-renowned ski school run by European superstars, Geraldine Jamin and Christoff Duverger. The club facilities include a full pro shop, on-site villas for rentals, and a high-end restaurant with fresh food and ingredients provided daily. In fact, you may never want to leave this oasis of a ski club. Yet, if you want to venture outside of the ski compound, the beach is 10 minutes away and the town of Lacanau has bursting nightlife energy. In the water ski world, this is a bucket list item that will leave you wanting to come back time and time again!

 

The Lacanau Cup is the launch of the 2022 season for the overall skiers. WorldWaterSkiers (WWS) is proud to have partnered with the Lacanau Water Ski Club and the professional slalom event being held in conjunction with the first Overall Tour Stop. Combining the two events will be one of the biggest payouts the sport has seen in a decade, Totaling $62,500 – with $37,000,- for Slalom on the PRO-AM side + $25,500 going to the Overall skiers, plus points towards the tour rankings and Year-End TOUR BONUSES.  Lacanau Ski Club partnered with World Water Skiers to utilize the EMS hub built by WWS, giving clubs and federations novel technology to promote better the sport we all love. The unity on display over the course of the weekend will be a beacon of the potential for the sport to reach larger fan bases together. Moreover, the prospects of the congregation between the world’s best slalom skiers, along with the reintroduction of the Overall World Tour is something that no water ski enthusiast is going to want to miss. So be sure to check the schedule to see when each round is and what the cut is, who makes the finals and when it goes live. 

The 2022 Fluid Summer Showdown was held last weekend (June 17-19) and featured some of the best skiers in the world competing for World Ranking List scores and attempts at National and World Records.

Erika Lang made history tricking 11420 in the second round of competition setting a new pending Women’s World Trick Record!

Other National Records included:

Tia Byrne 1@35 Pending G2 Slalom Record
Lexi Abeslon 2@35 Pending G2 Slalom Record
Aaliyah Yoong 4@35 Pending Malaysian and Asian Slalom Record
Aaliyah Yoong 8080 Pending Malaysian and Asian Trick Record
Aaliyah Yoong 41.9m Pending Malaysian Jump Record
Elliot Westlund 53.4m Pending Swedish U17 Jump Record
Jake Abelson 11490 Pending B4/B5 Trick Record
Lexi Abelson 5910 Pending G2 Trick Record

There were also a ton of personal best and notable performances:
Neilly Ross 10760
Pato Font 11800 plus all 3 rounds
Jamie Calhoun 2@41
Jessie Dobbertin 4.5@38
Graham Fizer 3@39
Reagan Baxter 2.5@39
Quinn Haines 203ft

Thanks to Lynn Novakofski photos from Friday and Saturday have been posted to this WWS tournament page.

A big thank you to all of our officials who volunteered their time to help run this event and a special thanks to Becky Bartlett (Chief Scorer) who flew in to score the tournament along with Layne Moroney for stepping in as Chief Judge.

We are looking forward to our next event in July which is already completely full for 3 days. We still have room for the September and October tournaments but please sign up soon here on WWS if you wish to reserve a spot.

All the best for the rest of the season!

Fifteen National Records were broken this past weekend at Ski Fluid’s Holy Cow Cup along with a new pending U17 World Slalom Record.

The event was held over 3 days, Friday 24th to Sunday 26th of September and the weather gods smiled nicely upon the competition with brilliant weather every day.

Records fell in all events and in numerous divisions but the highlight was Charlie Ross breaking the U17 Boys World Slalom Record in the first round with 1.25@41off. He followed this up in the 3rd round with 1.5@41off and looked like he was on his way to number 3! At only 15 Charlie is the youngest to ever run 39 and has stormed onto the world slalom stage in the past year or so. He will definitely be one to watch at the upcoming World Championships and MasterCraft Pro in October.

Fluid currently claims the host site to the Men’s World Overall Record with a new pending record in the approval process, as well as the site of the Women’s World Jump Record and the U21 Men’s Trick Record. In the past, Fluid has also seen the Women’s World Overall and Trick Record as well as the Men’s World Jump Record broken on it’s waters. However, Charlie’s achievement is the first World Slalom Record set on the site behind the 2021 MasterCraft Pro Star proving Fluid is the place for it all!

The other National Records included Neilly Ross breaking the Canadian Open Women’s record twice with 10660 and 10790, Vale Gonzalez tying the Chilean Jump Record of 49.9m, Frankie Dees coming out of retirement for the M8 Jump Record of 123, 14 year old Jake Abelson laying down 11450 for a B4 Record, while his sister upped the G2 Slalom record to 1@35off. Bruce Kistler broke his existing trick record 3 times in M8, while Leza Harrison broke the W9 record in multiple rounds.

Other notable performances were from Team Fluid skiers, Jacinta Carroll flying 194ft in her first competition in almost 2 years and Jack Critchley launching 224ft setting themselves up nicely for the World’s next month and the professional events that will complete the 2021 season.

There were so many other personal bests notched up during the event that it was impossible to keep count. Big thanks to all of the drivers, judges and volunteers that helped out over the 3 days. And a special mention to Action Water Sports for providing the 2021 MasterCraft Pro Stars for all of the competitors to perform behind.

The Holy Cow Cup is Fluid’s longest running event and has been held annually since Fluid opened in 2009. This tournament wrapped up our amateur schedule for 2021, but we are looking forward to hosting the MasterCraft Pro presented by Action Water Sports on October 29/30 and will be back in 2022 with at least another 5 record events and we are sure even more amazing performances.

Team Fluid.

 

 

Skiers & Officials,

The Fluid Fall Record will be held this coming weekend (September 4th and 5th) at Ski Fluid starting at 7:30 am on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Schedule and Running Order have been posted below but are subject to change depending on the weather. Tricks will be first both days, followed by Slalom around 10 am, then Jump.

 

Click to access 2021-Fluid-Fall-Record-Running-Order.pdf

 

All skiers must complete their registration prior to competing. We have 2 busy days of skiing with 90 rides planned each day so please arrive early to ensure you do not miss your turn. Due to the increase in Covid cases, there will be no check-in at Action Water Sports.

Everyone must renew their Florida Water Ski Federation at the beginning of the new ski year which began after Nationals. Please complete this prior to this weekend:

Memberships

We are looking forward to a great event with a number of skiers moving into new divisions after the Nationals and taking their first shots at new National Records.

See you all this weekend!

Team Fluid

 

The 2021 Syndicate Florida State Championships is all set for this coming Saturday and Sunday (July 10/11)!!

Competition will begin at 7:45am both days and will feature the State’s best competing for their age division and open titles.

The official schedule and running order has been posted below:

https://worldwaterskiers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-Syndicate-Florida-State-Championships-Running-Order.pdf

All competitors need to register at Action Water Sports before skiing. 

Competitors can pick up special offers on HO/Syndicate equipment and all Juniors receive a free T-Shirt!

Awards for the Juniors will be presented on Saturday evening at the Junior Banquet…tickets are still available for $15 by contacting Kyle@SkiFluid.com

We hope to see you there.

Team 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.