A trend?

[onamission]

The trend is alive and doing well in Michigan. Below is the latest new letter from the MWSA.

Michigan Water Ski Association Newsletter

End of Summer Newsletter 2015

The Michigan tournament scene was healthy and blooming for 2015. There were 8 Michigan sites that held events looking like this:

Placid Waters held 3- one 3-Event Collegiate, States, Meijer State Games Trick/Jump part;

Billy's Puddle held 5- 3 Ski Leagues and 2 Slalom events;

Hidden Lake held 3- 3 Slalom events 2 of which were Record events one included Nate Smith, current world slalom record holder, Cale Burdick and Jason McClintock as skiers;

Lake Lynetter held 6- 5 Eastside Ski League events and one AM/PM + Trick event;

Lyons held 2- slalom events;

Summerwood held 2- Westside Ski League events;

Tivoli Gardens held 2- one slalom and one 3-Event Collegiate event;

Millennium Park held 2- slalom part of Meijer State Games and MasterCraft Throwdown.

As far as skiers, there were hundreds (that's right hundreds with an S) that skied in these events and plenty more that came along as spectators. Skiing dead in Michigan- I think NOT! What about Promo boats pulling these events? Again Michigan is on top because of the strong dealerships behind these events. Action Water Sports with owners, Jerry Brouwer on the Westside and Gregg and Mary Rising on the eastside supporting their Pro Star promo boat owners Doug Rooker and Mark Boender who bring their boats to events. There is Jeff and Patti Smith who own Silver Spray Sports providing Correct Craft Ski Nautiques to events. There's Joe Wolfe, owner of Skiers Pier, making sure The Malibu Response TXI is at events, and promo boat owner Robert Walker who has started this season bringing the Carbon Pro Centurian to many events. This has given our events a number of boats to pull the events and delight the skiers there. Let us not forget the Michigan Water Ski Association who is at the root of each event. With the Board helping to organize the event and many of its members officiating these sanctioned events, we produce a State that continues to lead the Midwest and country in keeping the sport thriving in a positive healthy direction.

2015 3-Event Michigan State Championship Winners

On July 25 & 26 the 3-Event Michigan State Championships were held at Placid Waters in Allendale, MI. This multi-lake site offered a tremendous venue to hold Michigan's largest attended event. Organization for this event is a huge undertaking, but the Westshore Ski Club was up to the challenge. With the club's members and Brent and Becky Overmire at the head, the large slalom, trick, and jump tournament went very smoothly over the 2 days of competition. Gratitude goes out to the Westshore Club, MWSA officials and the many skiers in attendance. Also, I would personally like to thank Jerry Brouwer, of Action Water Sports, who supported this event and was a main catalyst behind the scenes.

Michigan Skier Recognition

There were many of Michigan elite skiers that qualified, participated, and reached the podium in the Midwest Regionals and Goode 2015 National Championships. Below is a list of names and podium placements in each of the slalom, trick, jump, and overall events:

Midwest Regionals at Waters Edge in Wilmington, IL.

B2- Vlady Sarcevich second in slalom

M1- Jack Phillipson fourth in slalom; fifth in overall

M3- Brent Overmire third in slalom, fifth in trick, fifth in jump

M3- Barton Rachwall fifth in slalom

M4- Mark Budzynski fifth in trick, second in trick, third in overall

M5- Doug Rooker third in slalom

M5- Jeff Smith (Fenton) fourth in slalom

M6- Ted McColley first in slalom

M6- Dan Wamhoff second in slalom

M6- Jeffery Smith (Lawton) fifth in slalom, first in jump, first in trick, first in overall

M7- Bill Murbach first in slalom

M8- John Robertson fourth in slalom

M9- Jerry Hosner first in slalom, second in jump, first in trick, first in overall

W1- Sarah Schweihofer fifth in slalom

W1- Lauren Smith fourth in overall

W2- Whitney Burnash second in slalom

W6- Sandy Cummings first in slalom

W6- Kim Branoff second in slalom

W6- Margaret Birch fifth in slalom

W7- Gwen Wamhoff second in slalom

Goode Nationals in Okeeheelee Park West Palm Beach, FL

B2- Vlady Sarcevich second in slalom

M2- Brent Triplett fourth in slalom

M6- Ted McColley first in slalom

M6- Dan Wamhoff fifth in slalom

M9- Jerry Hosner first in slalom, third in tricks, third in jump, second overall

W2- Whitney Burnash fourth in slalom

W6- Kim Branoff fourth in slalom

W7- Gwen Wamhoff second slalom (tied for first)

Hidden Lake Record Pro/Am

Picture a cool, calm morning with a mixture of 40' trees surrounding a 2000' lake invaded by a thick gray fog. That was the picturesque beginning to Hidden Lake's Record event held on Saturday, September 5th. It combined the skiing abilities of some pro skiers right down to novice level, from young B1 to mature W&M8. All present to make this a wonderful day filled with excitement of great skiing.

The 35 skiers provided those thrilling moments throughout the day, skiing together and mixing the performances of the Pro and Amateur skiers alike. There was Haley Forbes who has just started to run the course and young 9 year old Reid Meinhardt who slowly ran his 5-6 passes til reaching his max speed of 30 mph. How about personal bests - there were plenty like Isaac Moothart who finished his 36 mph pass for the first time and then grabbing 4 at -22 for his new PB. There were 7 skiers who achieved the shortline of 38 0ff and 3, Ted McColley, Chris Clark, and Barton Rachwal, who got into -39. How about the contingent of skiers from Canada who came down, turned in strong performances and said "We will be back!". But, this day became special because of the 3 Pro skiers who thrilled all of us with their deep shortline skiing. Michigan's Cale Burdick matching scores with Canada's Jason McClintock, both running 3 @ -41, and the World Record holder, Nate Smith, delighting the on-watchers with a start at 39 off, incredible "op-ups", and a chance at the standing World Record of 2.5 at -43 falling just short with 1 @ -43. So many moments wrapped up in a fantastic day, leaving it as one on 2015's most memorable.

A big thanks goes out to the Pros who delighted all there with their attendance, to the many officials needed to make this event happen, and Brent Triplett, his family, and Hidden Lake Ski Club that put this event together.

Ski League - Healthy and Well

Our Ski League format has been running smoothly with sanctioned Class C events mid-week to a small number of skiers. This "League" is made up of skiers who usually attended in the late afternoon/evening to get scores that help their rankings or just so they can get their skiing in during the week instead of all day tournaments offered on the weekends.

The Westside League holds 3 events at Billy's Puddle in Dorr, MI and 2 at Summerwood in Hudsonville, MI. Jerry Brouwer and Kurt Rotman have been instrumental in holding and running those events. On the eastside, all 5 of the 2015 events were held at Lake Lynette with Earl Mayhew the head of those events. The Ski League events take a great deal of cooperation from the skiers and may require each skier to be an aspiring official to aid in the running of the events. As one can imagine, it is not easy to find a regular spot on these leagues but many times a substitute is needed to fill-in for one of the "regulars". If this sounds interesting, please contact Kurt Rotman on the westside - [email protected] or Earl Mayhew on the eastside - [email protected] for more info or email Don Francis at [email protected] and I will forward to them.

Ability Series Final Results:

With 2015 being MWSA's 11th year organizing and promoting the Slalom Ability Series, there were strong results again this season. There were 6 sites that were part of the Series and those venues drew 105 skiers - 21 of which were brand new to the tournament scene. Thanks goes out to these sites as their regular format has to make slight changes to accommodate many of these Novice skiers. But within the 3 main groups of skiers - Max Speed Group, Shortline Group, and Super Shortline Group - there was good competition that led to our final top 5 skiers in each Ability Group.

Winners in Group A - Max Speed were:

1st - Brooke McMahan

2nd - Lawrence Zywicki

3rd - Reid Meinhardt

4th - Ari Grode

5th - Drew Budzynski

note- Brooke was only the 4th female to win a division - the others being Sarah Schweihofer, Gwen Wamhoff, and Ariel Oppenheim - who holds the record of winning 4 times, 3 back to back.

Winners in Group B - Shortline were:

1st - Porter Brown

2nd - Vlad Sarcevich

3rd - Chuck Phillipson

4th - Gwen Wamhoff

5th - Gina Sarcevich

note- Porter is a first time winner

Winners in Group C - Super Shortline were:

1st - Geoff McNabb

2nd - Mark Budzynski

3rd - Mark Johnson

4th - Ted McColley

5th - Doug Rooker

note- Geoff was a 4th place winner in 2011

Congratulations to this year's winners. Also I would like to point out, the MWSA Slalom Series has seen 243 new tournament skiers over it's 11 years in existence, along with the many experienced skiers already participating. Many of these skiers have grown with the program and are still with us today. Gracious thanks goes out to our special sponsors - Action Water Sports, Silver Spray Sports, and Skiers Pier - who support us and provide prizes for the winning skiers. Naturally, your support of them is also appreciated.

2nd year waterskiing part of Meijer State Games

The 2015 Meijer State Games of Michigan took place on June 27th & 28th. Saturday's slalom was at Millennium Park outside of Grand Rapids and on Sunday, trick and jump continued at Placid Waters in Allendale. On Saturday, the slalom event started off the competition in rainy 56 degree temperature weather. During the first round the water conditions remained calm allowing the skiers to put up some good scores. As the first round ended and the second round began, the wind came up causing the water conditions to dramatically go downhill. Unfortunately, these conditions put a damper on the skiing but the skiers tried to make the best of it. The following day, the venue switched to Placid Waters for trick and jump. The temperatures remained cool but the water conditions improved and the skiers finished off the competition in good form.

This was the second year that waterskiing was part of the Meijer State Games. An estimated 7,500 athletes from all corners of Michigan participated and represented the 40 sports of the 6th annual Meijer State Games of Michigan. Action Water Sport was behind the initiation of waterskiing being added to the list of sports. They help in organizing and contributing MasterCraft promo boats to the waterskiing competition. For more info on the skiers that reached the podium, go to www.stategamesofmichigan.com

President's Notes

-Membership: It is amazing to me every time I think of the hundreds of people that get our newsletter why all aren't MWSA members. Michigan Water Ski Association is the only state group that tries to support and help all disciplines of water enthusiasts. We try to unify the athletes and stand behind any event/s that benefit those disciplines. Knowing all that take advantage of our events/support, I would think we would have more MWSA members. We have set the membership fee extremely reasonable to encourage joining and even offered group discounts. Please take time at the start of next year to think of how we benefit you and go to our online registration and become a MWSA member.

-Volunteers: Each year, MWSA is constantly looking for volunteers. Many of our events, and especially our MWSA Board, are looking for interested people to help relieve the load on many of our members that currently organize and run things. From our State Championships to the many large national events held here in Michigan, there are many things done with volunteers to make these events possible. You don't have to be a skier to help, nor do you have to be experienced in skiing or with the events. With a new season a whole winter off, please take time to think how you might take part and volunteer your service.

-MWSA Board: Having the wonderful private sites and strong dealership support is important to the skiers of Michigan, but also significant is the dedicated leadership that runs MWSA. Our MWSA Board has made a super effort to keep the Association connected to our members. They have gone the extra mile to stay tuned to what our members want. Through discussion and hours of planning, they have turned these ideas into new formats, new events, new ways of handling things, and generally a new attitude towards the sport. The members get to see and have the results without realizing what goes on to make it happen. I'd like to take the space here to recognize the MWSA Board and say how important to our Association they are. Executive VP - Dan Connelly; West VP - Mark Boender; East VP - Mark Johnson; Treasurer - Phil Oppenheim; Secretary - Carol Oppenheim; Midwest Rep - Doug Rooker; Safety - Dan Van Dyk; Membership/Media - Laura Burdick; 3-Event - Brent Triplett; Disabled - Rhonda Van Dyk; Barefooting - Jim Youngblood; Wakeboarding - Dirk Dzrezewski; Show Skiing - Jill Jolley; Collegiate - Amy Rooker.

-MWSA Website: Make sure to check out our redesigned website at www.mwsa.org

Don Francis - President

[justgary]

^^^^^ Dang, son, that's the longest post I ever saw!

[wakeNsurf]

UMMM sorry not happening out here. 10-15 years ago it was "Hot Boats" 80% and ski boats 20%, now Wake and surf boats 55% Hot boats 40% and Ski 5% (maybe). While I can appreciate a good skier and barefooter (have a neighbor who is great, but note only one who even skis on a regular basis) a decent wake boarder who can go wake to wake with some rail grabs and 180's has got some skill as well. While its relatively easy to surf (just standing there), it does take skill to snap off the lip, jump and transition from side to side, not to mention its more interactive with those on the boat as well.

[dihrdskir]

Firstly, great to see that this hasn't degenerated into a "holier than thou" thread. Respectful and insightful opinions noted. For me, skiing seems to be the staple most seem to come back to just like mums home cooked meal. For the older generation it's all we knew and that's what we taught our kids. The challenge would be to ski on a fence paling or an eky lid. Modern versions of this are a little more sophisticated and have developed into what we see today in forms such as non traditional skiing alternatives. Respect to the wakeboarders, the surfers and the foilers and power to those that have mastered their chosen discipline. Skiing is not a trend, it's the heart of the sport.

[jk13]

Not a trend around here, it's the norm. Our lake that runs right through town has 10+ DDs on hoists and only 2-3 Vdrives.

Footers and slalom skiers typically run in the morning and tubers, cruisers, and wakeboarders run in the afternoon. I've seen exactly ONE wakesurfer, but to be fair we only get out 5-10 times per summer on that lake. Get further north to vacationland and it's more a matter of status symbols it seems--many more brand new boats up there. Big ones.

[Slayer]

Firstly, great to see that this hasn't degenerated into a "holier than thou" thread. Respectful and insightful opinions noted. For me, skiing seems to be the staple most seem to come back to just like mums home cooked meal. For the older generation it's all we knew and that's what we taught our kids. The challenge would be to ski on a fence paling or an eky lid. Modern versions of this are a little more sophisticated and have developed into what we see today in forms such as non traditional skiing alternatives. Respect to the wakeboarders, the surfers and the foilers and power to those that have mastered their chosen discipline. Skiing is not a trend, it's the heart of the sport.

^^^^^^That sums up what watersports is all about and how it all started. Well stated, Sir.

[oldjeep]

Not a trend around here, it's the norm. Our lake that runs right through town has 10+ DDs on hoists and only 2-3 Vdrives.

Footers and slalom skiers typically run in the morning and tubers, cruisers, and wakeboarders run in the afternoon. I've seen exactly ONE wakesurfer, but to be fair we only get out 5-10 times per summer on that lake. Get further north to vacationland and it's more a matter of status symbols it seems--many more brand new boats up there. Big ones.

Skiers are the norm on my brother inlaws lake, but it has a ski course on it so that is no surprise. Typically 2-4 boats in the lineup at prime times after work and on the weekends.

[h2o_nhk]

You have my attention... tell me more. haha

When we leave out of the marina we always head up to the slalom course. I get around the corner when I can see it and I drop to an idle speed and cruise the last 100-150 yards at idle so I don't ruin the water. We park off to the side and watch if someone is out there. I've talked to the single stick guys a couple of times. Super nice once they find out you're not a douchewaffle wakeboarder that's just there to wake everyone out of their minds with no regard for other folks.

They've offered me a tow a couple times, but I seriously doubt I'm skilled enough to get up from a standstill on one ski. ha

You have my attention... tell me more. haha

When we leave out of the marina we always head up to the slalom course. I get around the corner when I can see it and I drop to an idle speed and cruise the last 100-150 yards at idle so I don't ruin the water. We park off to the side and watch if someone is out there. I've talked to the single stick guys a couple of times. Super nice once they find out you're not a douchewaffle wakeboarder that's just there to wake everyone out of their minds with no regard for other folks.

They've offered me a tow a couple times, but I seriously doubt I'm skilled enough to get up from a standstill on one ski. ha

what will really get you thinking is when you realize that the guys/gals who get into 38off+ the rope is not actually long enough to reach the turn buoy straight out from the tow pylon... BAM! it hits yah and your like holy sh** thats insane at 34-36mph! the Skiers are are traveling twice that speed then have to reach/brake/turn/accelerate and repeat 6 times!

chasing buoys is the most addicting sport on the water....one pass through the course at any length, any speed and your hooked!

[MadMan]

Firstly, great to see that this hasn't degenerated into a "holier than thou" thread. ..... Skiing is not a trend, it's the heart of the sport.

Well, I guess you ended that.

[Diesel86]

Over here in Western Australia it's a similar story, by which I mean it all depends where you go, I spend the majority of my time in the rivers around Perth which get blown out pretty easy so it's mainly wake boarders and tubes, most people just have runabouts so even surfing isn't hugely popular.

Just south of Perth there's a ski park with purpose built lakes so the skiers stay around there, only one boat on each at a time, only get 15 minutes per run and the fees aren't the cheapest, the waterski clubs run monthly competitions for barefoot, trick and slalom.

Around Christmas most of us wind up at the Blackwood river about 3 hours south of Perth, down there the footers and skiers are on the water at sunrise, by the time the rest of us wake from our drunken stupor they're off the water.

All in all I wouldn't say skiing is making a comeback, I wouldn't say it's dying either.

[dihrdskir]

Well, I guess you ended that.

Greetings madman and respect to you. The context of my post is based around the origins of the sport rather than to imply something based upon an edited grab that you have selectively portrayed as a biased opinion. But whatever floats (or sinks) your boat.

[Baddog]

what will really get you thinking is when you realize that the guys/gals who get into 38off+ the rope is not actually long enough to reach the turn buoy straight out from the tow pylon... BAM! it hits yah and your like holy sh** thats insane at 34-36mph! the Skiers are are traveling twice that speed then have to reach/brake/turn/accelerate and repeat 6 times!

chasing buoys is the most addicting sport on the water....one pass through the course at any length, any speed and your hooked!

Sounds like a form of liquid crack. And although I am ;lousy at it, I really miss my last lake which had two courses linked so you could get two passes each way. Current lake doesn't even know what a course is.