Water Skiing: The History of the Sport
Water skiing began in 1922 when eighteen-year-old Ralph Samuelson of Minnesota declared that if you could ski on snow, you could also ski on water. He first tested this theory at Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota, towed by his brother Ben. The two brothers spent several days experimenting before July 2, 1922, when Ralph discovered that leaning back with the tips of his skis in the air led to success in water skiing. The first skis the brothers used were made from barrel staves, then progressed to snow skis before Ralph created the first pair of dedicated water skis from a few lumbars he bought and shaped them. These skis were tied to the feet with leather straps, and a long window was used as a tow rope.
Ralph continued to experiment and refine his water ski technique and equipment and on July 8, 1925, during a show at Pepin Lake, he made the first water ski jump using a 4′ x 16′ greased ramp. Ralph Samuelson never patented any of his water ski equipment; that was first done by Fred Waller in 1925 who patented his Dolphin Akwa-Skees and in 1940 Jack Andresen invented the first trick ski, a shorter finless version of the standard ski.
As a result of Ralph Samuelson’s work and the development of the team, water skiing soon became a demonstration sport in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The first competition was held in 1939 when the Association was formed. American Water Ski Championships and the National Water Ski Championships were held at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York. Since then recreational water skiing has grown tremendously in popularity with recent surveys showing over 11 million water skiers in the US alone. This is despite the high costs of equipment, boat, tow vehicle, fuel and fees associated with the sport, which tends to make it a pastime for wealthier families.
As the sport progressed, more competitions were held, and the events were divided into three disciplines, slalom, trick, and jumping. Competitive water skiers compete against their own gender and within their own age group, some competitive water skiers are over 80 so it’s never too late to get involved!
slalom ski
Originally the slalom course was just a straight line row of buoys that the skier had to enter and exit, but the course has been modified over the years. Today the slalom course consists of a series of buoys placed in a straight path 8 feet apart and a series of 6 pre-arranged buoys that form the entry and exit gates. The boat travels through the middle of the buoys at a specified speed and the skier weaves behind the boat to get around the buoys. The boat driver must also be skilled; it is a challenge to maintain a straight road while maintaining a tolerance of ½ mile per hour from the specified speed. The top speed of the competition boat is 36mph, which doesn’t sound fast, but skiers reach speeds of up to 70mph when crossing the wake between the buoys and then slow to around 20mph as they round the buoys, and they do it 6 times in 17 seconds. This sudden change in speed is a huge adrenaline rush!
When a skier successfully completes the course at full boat speed, they make it a bit more challenging by shortening the length of the rope. The best slalom skiers use a 32-foot long rope, and the buoys are set 35 feet from the center of the boat’s path, so the skier has to lean and reach to make the buoy.
ski trick
Originally this meant taking off a ski and holding it over your head, but today it’s a little different. Nowadays, trick skiers do ‘toe hold’ tricks in which they hold the rope by one of their feet using a special harness. They do steps, jumps and somersaults and points are awarded according to the degree of difficulty. The skier has 20 seconds to perform as many tricks as possible and is allowed two trick runs.
jumps
Jump is the most exciting event; Originally the jump ramps had a wooden roller surface! Today, the jump ramp height ranges from 2 ½ to 5 ½ feet and the boat’s top speed is 36 mph. The world record jump is over 200 feet and in the ‘ski fly’ spin-off event which has a longer ramp and faster boat speed, skiers approach the 300 foot mark. The freestyle jumping event is also exciting to watch with somersaults, choppers, and various other amazing tricks.