Erika Lang Reclaims Edge in World Record Duel with Neilly Ross

Erika Lang reclaims edge in world record duel with Neilly Ross

May 19, 2025

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Erika Lang, the most dominant women’s tricker of the past decade, has once again scaled the sport’s highest peak. On Sunday, at the Florida Inboards Open at Ski Lake Jillian, Lang laid down an 11,450-point run—her best ever, and a new pending world record.

If ratified, the score would reclaim the world record from Canadian rival Neilly Ross, who currently holds the official mark at 11,430, approved last fall after a dizzying back-and-forth between the two that turned the record chase into a season-long thriller.

Lang’s latest score is the highest ever tricked by a woman, equaling her previous pending mark of 11,450 from Timber Cove last November, which was ultimately not ratified. While the point total matches her earlier attempt, the sequence was slightly different—subtle evidence of offseason refinement and relentless pursuit.

Erika Lang's pending world record trick run

Lang’s world record run

The Lang-Ross duel has breathed life into women’s tricks, a discipline that often struggles for visibility in a sport calendar dominated by slalom and jump. In an era where trickers can go entire seasons without meaningful prize money or true head-to-head battles, Lang and Ross have made record-breaking the main event.

Last fall, Ross snapped Lang’s eight-year reign as world record holder with an 11,380 at Okeeheelee. Lang responded seven days later in Texas with 11,450, a performance many believed had sealed her return to the top. But Ross struck back—double-tapping 11,430 in both rounds at Lake Ledbetter. That score was ratified. Lang’s was not.

Their duel has played out not on primetime broadcasts or in front of roaring crowds, but on quiet lakes, with just a camera, a few judges, and a tight circle of competitors. And yet, the skiing—like pirouettes on glass—has been nothing short of electric.

Ross’s rise has been more than just a challenge—it’s a shift. Young, fearless, and technically daring, she splits her six flips down the middle to perform a series of wake spins and ski line tricks with speed that’s redefining what’s possible. Her toe pass? Over 5,000 points—a rare feat for female skiers. She’s not following Lang’s footsteps—she’s forging her own path.

Lang, though, is far from fading. Since breaking her first world record in 2013, she’s extended the mark from just over 10,000 to a pending 11,450. Since the start of 2023, she’s won the world title, the Pan American Games, and 8 of 10 pro events, including this year’s Moomba Masters and Swiss Pro Tricks. She remains the only woman to score over 11,000 in professional competition.

Now, with her latest score under review by the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation, Lang may finally reclaim the official record she first set more than a decade ago. Whether or not it’s ratified, she’s made a statement—and the timing couldn’t be sharper.

This coming weekend, Lang, Ross, and Anna Gay Hunter will go head-to-head at the U.S. Masters on Robin Lake, the richest trick skiing event of the year. It will mark the latest chapter in a rivalry that has defined women’s trick skiing for over a decade.

Between them, the trio has claimed 25 of the past 27 professional trick titles—a decade of dominance passed like a baton from one to the next and back again. There have been shifts in technique, peaks and valleys in form, and trick runs that redrew the boundaries of what’s possible. But the cast hasn’t changed.

And now, as Lang reasserts her hold on the highest score the sport has ever seen, the balance tips again. The story isn’t over. It’s just entering its next round.

A New Nautique? Speculation Swirls Ahead of the Masters

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A new Nautique? Speculation swirls ahead of the Masters

Smoke on the Water

By Jack Burden

May 18, 2025

Something’s Coming. Maybe. Probably.

There’s been no press release, no teaser post, no flashy reveal. But in the murky world of online forums and dockside whispers, the chatter is getting harder to ignore: Nautique might be preparing to retire both the Ski Nautique and the 200 in favor of a single, consolidated tournament boat.

No one’s saying it outright. But a growing chorus of off-the-record comments, speculation, and enough smoke to signal a new Pope suggest that something is in the works. Rumor has it AWSA certification may already be complete. If true, that would mean production is well underway.

What this would mean for the world of waterskiing is unclear. The 200, released in 2010, became a staple at every level of the sport. Its successor, the 2019 Ski Nautique, brought a radically different hull and tech-forward redesign. But despite the newer hull’s credentials, the 200 never went away. For years now, two official “tournament boats” have coexisted on Nautique’s lineup like divorced parents sharing custody of Regionals.

A move to consolidate would make sense. Two molds, two marketing campaigns, two price lists—all for a niche sport with declining tournament participation. But while a unified boat might simplify things for the manufacturer, it’s less certain what it would do for skiers.

Especially when it comes to cost.

The pricing trajectory for tournament boats over the past few decades has been, frankly, astronomical. In 2000, a new Nautique cost around $32,000. By 2010, the 200 launched at roughly $59,000. Today, the Ski Nautique lists at over $170,000. Meanwhile, median household income has climbed by less than half that rate. The result is a widening affordability gap that’s pushed new boats out of reach for most ski clubs and families.

While by no means cheap, the 200 has consistently been the most affordable tournament boat on the market since the Ski Nautique leapfrogged it as their flagship model. It’s remained a favorite of ski clubs and programs precisely because it undercuts the higher-end offerings from MasterCraft and Malibu, both of which have largely mirrored the Ski Nautique’s price trajectory.

Whether this new boat—if it exists—will change that is anyone’s guess. Any kind of price cut seems unlikely. But with the Masters, Nautique’s flagship event, coming up later this month, all eyes will be on Callaway Gardens. Not just for the skiing.

It may be nothing. Or it may be the start of a new chapter for tournament water skiing.

Either way, people are talking.

Masters Waterski & Wakeboard Tournament qualification criteria continues to raise eyebrows

Masters Invites Finalized: So Why Are There Empty Spots?

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Masters invites finalized: So why are there empty spots?

Image: pinemountain.org

By Jack Burden

May 14, 2025

The second Masters Qualifier wrapped last weekend at Championship Ski Lake in Auburndale, Florida, sending a baker’s dozen of the sport’s top athletes to Callaway Gardens later this month. Yet despite the roster of world-class names advancing, quiet concerns about the qualification system continue to simmer.

Dane Mechler, Freddie Winter, Allie Nicholson, Alexandra Garcia, and Neilly Ross secured berths in slalom; Dorien Llewellyn, Adam Pickos, Kennedy Hansen, and Aliaksandra Danishueskaya punched their tickets in tricks; while Emile Ritter, Igor Morozov, Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah, and Valentina Gonzalez qualified in jump.

All elite skiers, all deserving. And yet, in four of the six events contested, the cut line was barely there.

In men’s tricks and women’s jump, every entrant advanced. In women’s slalom and men’s jump, all but one skier qualified. In some disciplines, simply paying the entry fee and showing up was enough to earn a Masters spot.

It’s an awkward look for a tournament that bills itself as “the most prestigious event of the year.” And it’s not a one-off—it reflects a recurring pattern within the current qualification system.

While Masters organizers have long prioritized a high standard of excellence, their bespoke and exacting qualification pathway has, perhaps unintentionally, increased the likelihood of unusually small fields and unclaimed invites—even in disciplines with deep talent pools.

By contrast, virtually every other professional tournament—including the growing slate of Waterski Pro Tour stops—leans on established systems like the Waterski Pro Tour standings, the IWWF performance-based ranking lists, or some combination of the two to shape fields. The Masters’ decision to chart its own course has left rosters thinner than the sport’s current depth suggests.

Nowhere is this more visible than in men’s tricks. Once considered a sleepy corner of tournament skiing, men’s tricks is now arguably the sport’s hottest discipline, thanks to a recent flurry of world record activity, rising prize purses, and a wave of emerging talent. Yet despite that momentum, the Masters field remains thin.

Stringent entry criteria for the qualifiers required male trickers to have averaged over 11,000 points in world ranking competition over the past 12 months—a benchmark met by only 12 skiers worldwide. Of those, four are still juniors; one, the defending champion Martin Labra, is injured; another, Danylo Filchenko, has rarely left Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion; and one more, Martin Kolman, did not attend. The result: only seven eligible and willing competitors across two qualifiers, and at least one invite expected to go unclaimed.

For comparison, the recently concluded Swiss Pro Tricks tournament drew 16 male entrants—more than double the presumed Masters field—despite offering less than a third of the prize money. The appetite among athletes is clear; the bottleneck lies in the qualification process.

The Masters’ tightly gated system seems increasingly out of step with the sport’s evolving landscape. While trick skiing pushes forward—with new pro events in Morocco, Monaco, and Portugal, rising stars breaking records, and social media drawing fresh audiences—the Masters remains constrained by criteria that no longer fully reflect that growth.

The Masters still carries immense cachet. It boasts water skiing’s richest prize purse and an iconic venue that has crowned champions since 1959. But prestige, hard-earned, can be fragile. Keeping pace with the sport’s expanding depth will be key to preserving that legacy.

How Charlie Ross Became the Youngest Ever to Conquer 41-Off

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How Charlie Ross became the youngest ever to conquer 41-off

Image: @rollinswaterski

By Jack Burden

May 12, 2025

CLERMONT, FLA. — One of water skiing’s most exclusive clubs has a new—and youngest ever—member.

On Sunday at the Swiss Spring Classic, 19-year-old Canadian phenom Charlie Ross ran 1 buoy at 9.75 metres (43-off), becoming just the 16th skier in history to complete the fabled 10.25-metre (41-off) pass in tournament conditions. The score not only joins him to slalom royalty—it also sets a pending World Under-21 and Canadian Open record.

At 19 years and eight months, Ross surpasses Nate Smith’s mark as the youngest skier ever to achieve the feat. Smith, who first ran 41-off at age 20 years and six months, has long been the benchmark for modern slalom skiing. Now, that mantle may have been taken.

For close watchers of the pro scene, Ross’s breakthrough is less a surprise and more an inevitability fulfilled. His rise has been relentless: six Under-17 world record slalom performances (including a staggering 4 @ 10.25m as a junior in 2022), three successive Under-21 world records, and, most recently, a debut professional victory at the Moomba Masters this March—where he outdueled veterans and prodigies alike to win men’s slalom at one of the sport’s most storied events.

That Moomba final felt like a preview of the chaos defining modern men’s slalom. In an era where parity reigns—ten different pro event winners in 2024 alone—the Melbourne showdown was vintage unpredictability. Sixteen-year-old Damien Eade flashed early brilliance; the ever-versatile Joel Poland showcased his strength; Freddie Winter, just nine months removed from a broken femur, clawed back into relevance; and Lucas Cornale ignited the home crowd before Thomas Degasperi, ever the tactician, set the mark to beat. Skiing last, Ross answered with the highest score of the event to clinch the title—becoming the youngest Moomba Masters champion since Carl Roberge in the early 1980s.

A statement win for a skier whose pedigree feels almost like destiny. His father, Drew Ross, was a mainstay on the pro circuit through the ’90s and 2000s, anchoring Team Canada’s success. His sister, Neilly Ross, holds the current women’s world record in tricks and is an elite slalom contender. Raised at a ski school in central Florida, Ross honed his craft under the dual pillars of year-round conditions and top-tier coaching.

But raw talent only explains so much. Ross has become a student of the sport in the purest sense—obsessing over historical footage, deconstructing the gates of legends like Andy Mapple, Will Asher, and Freddie Winter, and dissecting body position frame by frame to edge his form closer to perfection.

“You can’t substitute for volume, volume on the water,” Ross told Marcus Brown on The FPM Podcast earlier this year. He also stressed the value of “bouncing different ideas off different people,” citing the advantage of training at multiple sites and the dense concentration of world-class coaches in central Florida.

Ross’s rise has also been fueled by a deliberate transformation off the water. Long one of the lightest skiers on tour (a wiry 6’2” and 138 pounds last season), he dedicated his winter to gaining strength—adding 20 pounds of muscle to balance agility with durability. The payoff was evident in Melbourne and again this weekend in Clermont, where his composed, powerful style carried him into waterski immortality.

Remarkably, Ross balances his professional ascent with a heavy academic load. A freshman at Rollins College, he juggles coursework with a travel schedule stretching across hemispheres. As the packed 2025 season unfolds—with eyes on the Under-21 World Championships on home soil later this year and a full slate of pro majors—his trajectory shows no signs of slowing.

Beyond his own ambitions, Ross sees slalom entering a pivotal era—one that echoes the rapid evolution recently seen in men’s tricks.

“It was only a few years ago we were asking if tricking 13,000 points was possible, what’s the points per second?” Ross said. “Now it’s guys like Mati, Tincho, Jake, Pato, and Joel—all right on the door.”

He predicts a similar surge in slalom, as a wave of young talents—including Lucas Cornale and the Eade brothers—begin to challenge the sport’s established elite.

“In a couple years, every tournament might take a near world record to win,” Ross said. “It’s going to be crazy.”

As the sport braces for a wave of record-breaking performances, Ross intends to lead the charge. “I want to chase running 43,” he said, referencing the 9.75m line length where the current world record stands at 2.5 buoys. “I don’t know if it’s even close to possible,” he added, “but when I’m done with my career, I want to be able to say I did everything I can to run 43.”

On Saturday, he took the first giant step toward that future. The 41-Off Club has a new name on its roster—and he’s just getting started.

This Mother’s Day, We Celebrate Water Skiing’s Unstoppable Moms

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This Mother’s Day, we celebrate water skiing’s unstoppable moms

Spotlighting waterskiing’s champion moms for Mother’s Day

By Jack Burden

May 11, 2025

When we talk about mothers, it’s easy to reach for words like strength, sacrifice, and love. But some mothers go a step further — they don’t just juggle the demands of parenting; they shatter records, hoist trophies, and tilt the axis of their sport. In the high-speed, high-skill world of professional water skiing, these women have shown that motherhood isn’t a hurdle. It’s rocket fuel.

Water skiing has always been a family affair — a sport where weekends on the lake spark lifelong passions and where the dock is as much a playground as it is a battleground. Yet these women have carved more than just slalom courses. They’ve carved new narratives. From toppling outdated assumptions to commanding podiums on the world’s biggest stages, they’ve proven that athletic prime and parenting aren’t mutually exclusive. In honor of Mother’s Day, here are five extraordinary water ski moms whose performances redefine what’s possible.

Image: @whitrini

Whitney McClintock Rini (CAN)

A decade ago, she was water skiing’s “Golden Girl.” Today, she’s a golden mom — and still one of the sport’s fiercest competitors. After giving birth to her son, Zane, in 2020, McClintock Rini returned to the pro tour the following season as if motherhood was just another notch on her belt. Over the past four years, she’s captured a dozen professional titles and has consistently ranked among the top three slalomers in the world, winning roughly one out of every three events she enters.

Her résumé reads like a chronicle of dominance: five world titles, a world slalom record, and countless professional victories. Her reign at Australia’s Moomba Masters — where she claimed her tenth slalom title earlier this year — is the stuff of legend. And now, with Zane often cheering lakeside, she’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Image: @trueloveski

Karen Truelove (USA)

If resilience had a face in women’s slalom, it might be Karen Truelove’s. The American is arguably the most impressive mom on this list, competing well into her 40s and holding the distinction of being the eldest woman to win a professional title. After giving birth to her son Dash in early 2009, Truelove returned midway through the same season, closing it out with two victories and two runner-up finishes. Five years later, at 40 and just months after welcoming her second son, Ridge, she was still climbing podiums and collecting medals.

One of the most decorated slalomers in the sport, she remains a blueprint for longevity and grit — and now watches her own sons begin their ascent in the junior ranks.

Image: @vennesavieke

Vennesa Leopold Vieke (AUS)

Some athletes peak young. Vennesa Leopold Vieke rewrote that script after becoming a mom. Before giving birth to her daughter in 2017, the Australian had just one professional podium to her name. Since then, she’s blossomed into one of the most consistent women’s slalom skiers on tour — notching regular podium finishes while balancing life with her two children, Riverlee and Ezra.

Her crowning achievement came in 2022, when she clinched victory at the Moomba Masters — a moment that cemented her transformation from promising talent to seasoned champion. Her Waterski Pro Tour standings over the past four years (9th, 12th, 10th) tell the story of a competitor not just hanging on but thriving well into her prime — long after many would have expected her to fade.

Image: @danemechler

Giannina Bonnemann Mechler (GER)

Germany’s Giannina Bonnemann Mechler barely took a breath before getting back on the water. Nine months after welcoming her son, Luca, she’s already chasing elite form again. Earlier this year, she cracked the final at the Swiss Pro Tricks and secured qualification for the U.S. Masters with a score flirting with 10,000 points — a benchmark reserved for the sport’s upper echelon.

In 2023, Bonnemann Mechler went undefeated on the WWS Overall Tour and earned silver at the World Championships. One of only six women to trick over 10,000 points, her scores across all three events have sparked whispers of a potential challenge to Natallia Berdnikava’s longstanding world overall record. With her husband, top-ranked slalomer Dane Mechler, by her side and Luca in tow, Giannina’s comeback arc is one to watch.

Jacinta Carroll Weeks at the Moomba Masters

Image: @action_horizons_stunts

Jacinta Carroll (AUS)

If you blinked, you might have missed Jacinta Carroll’s tenure as an elite waterski mom — but what a flash it was. Just 100 days after giving birth to her daughter, Amelia, Carroll captured her 10th consecutive Moomba Masters jump title. It also served as her swan song: she announced her retirement from competition immediately after the victory.

Carroll’s résumé is staggering: 42 consecutive professional victories, five straight world titles (2013–2021), and the first woman to jump 200 feet. Known affectionately as “Rabbit,” she dominated women’s jumping from her teenage years, rarely losing and often setting records while doing so. Her final victory — achieved with just two weeks of on-water training post-pregnancy and the support of an international recovery team — was a fitting finale for an athlete who made a career of redefining boundaries in the sport.

As Carroll put it bluntly to other new mothers eyeing a quick return: “Don’t try this at home.” But whether they do or don’t, her legacy — like those of the other mothers on this list — has already expanded the definition of what’s possible.

Masters 2025: Here’s Everyone in the Final Field at Callaway Gardens

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Masters 2025: Here’s everyone in the final field at Callaway Gardens

Krueger, a 14-time Masters champion, will compete on Robin Lake yet again later this month.

By Jack Burden

May 11, 2025

The 2025 Masters Water Ski and Wakeboard Tournament is officially set. Invitations were finalized this weekend following the second and final Masters Qualifying event, held at Championship Lake in Auburndale, Florida.

The roster features defending Masters champions, current world record holders, and winners of three other Nautique-sponsored tournaments from the past 12 months. Roughly half of the field earned their spots based on performances at two qualifiers staged in Central Florida over the past two weekends.

In total, 40 athletes secured berths in the open divisions. Among the notable qualifiers are Freddy Krueger, who turned 50 earlier this month and continues to defy expectations, and Freddie Winter, returning less than a year after suffering a broken femur.

Here is the full list of qualified athletes, along with the criteria by which each earned their invitation:

Masters Athletes

Men’s Slalom

Cole McCormick (Defending Masters Champion)
Nate Smith (World Record Holder)
Robert Hazelwood (Botaski ProAm Champion)
William Asher (CA ProAm Runner Up)
Charlie Ross (Moomba Masters Champion)
Thomas Degasperi (Qualifier #1)
Dane Mechler (Qualifier #2)
Frederick Winter (Qualifier #2)

Women’s Slalom

Regina Jaquess (Defending Masters Champion & World Record Holder)
Jaimee Bull (Botaski ProAm Champion)
Whitney McClinctock Rini (CA ProAm Champion)
Venessa Leopold Vieke (Qualifier #1)
Paige Rini Pigozzi (Qualifier #1)
Allie Nicholson (Qualifier #2)
Alexandra Garcia (Qualifier #2)
Neilly Ross (Qualifier #2)

Note: Christhiana De Osma qualified as runner-up to McClintock Rini and Jaquess at the Moomba Masters but has opted to compete in the Junior Masters instead.

Men’s Trick

Jake Abelson (World Record Holder)
Matias Gonzalez (Botaski ProAm Runner Up)
Joel Poland (Moomba Masters Runner Up)
Patricio Font (Qualifier #1)
Louis Duplan-Fribourg (Qualifier #1)
Dorien Llewellyn (Qualifier #2)
Adam Pickos (Qualifier #2)

Note: Defending champion Martin Labra is sidelined due to injury.

Women’s Trick

Anna Gay Hunter (Defending Masters Champion)
Neilly Ross (World Record Holder)
Erika Lang (Botaski ProAm Champion)
Paige Rini Pigozzi (Qualifier #1)
Giannina Bonnemann Mechler (Qualifier #1)
Kennedy Hansen (Qualifier #2)
Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya (Qualifier #2)
Olivia Chute (Qualifier #2)

Note: Alexia Abelson qualified as runner-up to Lang, Gay, and Ross at the Moomba Masters but will compete in the Junior Masters.

Men’s Jump

Joel Poland (Defending Masters Champion)
Ryan Dodd (World Record Holder)
Freddy Krueger (CA ProAm Champion)
Luca Rauchenwald (Moomba Masters Runner Up)
Louis Duplan-Fribourg (Qualifier #1)
Jack Critchley (Qualifier #1)
Emile Ritter (Qualifier #2)
Igor Morozov (Qualifier #2)

Women’s Jump

Hanna Straltsova (Defending Masters Champion)
Lauren Morgan (CA ProAm Runner Up)
Brittany Greenwood Wharton (Moomba Masters Champion)
Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya (Qualifier #1)
Regina Jaquess (Qualifier #1)
Aaliyah Yoong Hannifah (Qualifier #2)
Valentina Gonzalez (Qualifier #2)

Note: Jacinta Carroll Weeks also qualified as the world record holder but has retired from professional competition.

Freddie Winter Returns to the Podium at Swiss Pro Slalom

At Swiss Pro, Winter’s Comeback Steals the Spotlight

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At Swiss Pro, Freddie Winter’s comeback steals the spotlight

Image: @thefredwinter

By Jack Burden

May 7, 2025

CLERMONT, FLA. — On Sunday afternoon, under the sinking Florida sun at Swiss Waterski Resort, Freddie Winter climbed back onto a professional podium for the first time since the crash that nearly ended his career.

For the outspoken Englishman, the third-place finish at the Swiss Pro Slalom wasn’t just another podium—it was a statement. Less than a year removed from a broken femur that sidelined him for most of 2024, the two-time world slalom champion reminded the waterski world that not only is he back—he’s still a threat.

“I sat in bed watching a lot of skiing in the following months wanting so bad to be back amongst it,” Winter wrote after the event. “I’ve worked as hard as I know how since to get back to where I could be competitive. Yesterday it started to feel like I can be.”

Nate Smith was, as ever, imperious. His 5 at 41 (10.25m) in the finals comfortably secured a seventh Swiss Pro title, continuing his reign as the most dominant male slalom skier of the past decade. Vaughn, in second, has picked up his strong form from 2024, delivering one of the event’s grittier performances.

Yet the buzz along the shoreline and in the digital stands—thousands tuning into The Waterski Broadcasting Company’s stream—centered on the fiery Brit. In a sport that often rewards the relentless metronome of perfection, Winter’s brand of visible, determined grind struck a different chord.

Elite slalom skiing is a sport of risk and razor-thin margins. At last June’s Monaco Slalom Cup, Freddie’s pursuit of victory ended with a violent crash into the dock. The images of him stretchered off were a stark reminder of how quickly everything can change.

Doctors predicted up to a year off the water. He gave it just over six months.

While Sunday’s result doesn’t fully reflect his ultimate ambitions, it signals clear progress. After battling through early rounds, Winter secured a place in the finals alongside some of the sport’s most consistent performers.

“I’m a work in progress and I’m happy,” he said. “I’m very happy to be competing with all these guys where I was really struggling not too long ago.”

Winter’s podium performance isn’t just about his skiing—it signals that the 2025 season is shaping up to be as fiercely competitive as 2024, if not more. With veterans like Travers, Asher, and Smith still pushing the limits, and a rising wave of new challengers, the men’s field is sharper and more crowded than ever.

With Freddie Winter back in the fold, the season just got a lot more interesting.

Jen Craven’s The Skiers Reimagines Pro Water Skiing — Fictional Fame, Real Fun

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Jen Craven’s The Skiers Reimagines Pro Water Skiing — Fictional Fame, Real Fun

Image: Amazon

By Jack Burden

May 6, 2025

In Jen Craven’s new novel The Skiers, the high-octane world of professional slalom skiing gets the kind of glossy, tabloid-ready treatment usually reserved for tennis aces or Formula 1 stars. It’s a book where champions dodge paparazzi, grace People magazine covers, and, yes, where 10-year-olds compete for cash prizes. If that last part makes you cringe, you’re not alone — especially if you’re someone who’s spent more than a weekend dockside.

The Skiers follows Willa and Sadie, two fierce, lifelong competitors whose rivalry spans not just the slalom course but also a long-standing love triangle. As they chase the crown at the sport’s biggest event, tragedy strikes in the form of an explosion that fractures the competition and sends suspicion rippling through their tight-knit community. Part thriller, part romance, Craven’s novel trades in intrigue as much as in buoy counts.

For those inside the sport, references to slalom “races” and stopwatch-wielding coaches may induce a wince, and the skiing sequences themselves lean more Hollywood than hard-edge technical. But Craven’s research deserves credit. A self-confessed casual TWBC viewer, she made the pilgrimage to the Swiss Pro Slalom after pouring over years of footage and interviews while writing the novel. “Such a cool day getting to experience the Swiss Pro Slalom IRL,” she shared on Instagram, recounting how she mingled with top athletes like Whitney McClintock-Rini, Regina Jaquess, and Jon Travers — the latter memorably lending a shoelace mid-event to fix a competitor’s broken binding.

Chapter 10 of The Skiers takes place at the same event, blurring the line between Craven’s fiction and reality. And while the real Swiss Pro didn’t feature the drama or scandal her characters face, the blend of fierce competition and genuine camaraderie made a clear impression on the author.

The world Craven builds is one of heightened reality, where skiers are household names and professional winnings are enough to pay more than just boat gas. For those of us grounded in the less glamorous truth — where most elite skiers juggle full time jobs to fund their seasons — the alternate universe wears thin at times. Still, it’s hard not to be charmed by the fantasy.

At its core, The Skiers is a page-turner — packed with drama, secrets, and just enough romance to keep it propulsive. “Friends want to see you succeed, just never more than them,” the tagline warns. Craven delivers on that promise with an engaging story of ambition, betrayal, and the fine line between friends and frenemies.

For readers looking for a light summer read — and for anyone excited to see slalom skiing sneak into mainstream fiction — The Skiers is worth a spot in your beach bag. Accuracy aside, seeing our niche sport woven into a thriller is, frankly, just plain fun.

Duplan-Fribourg Brothers Shine at First Masters Qualifier

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Duplan-Fribourg brothers shine at first Masters Qualifier

“Every step of my rehabilitation has been a victory, no matter how small” (image: @tristan.duplanfribourg)

By Jack Burden

May 6, 2025

AUBURNDALE, FLA. — Tristan Duplan-Fribourg has returned to competitive water skiing in style after a life-threatening crash last season. The 17-year-old Frenchman delivered a career-best 12,090 points at the Masters Qualifying Series 1 in Auburndale, Florida, securing his spot at the 2025 Junior Masters and entering the exclusive 12,000-point club — a threshold only 13 skiers before him have crossed.

Eleven months ago, Duplan-Fribourg lay in a medically induced coma with a fractured eye socket, torn hip bone, and severe head trauma after two devastating jump crashes at the 2024 Junior Masters. Today, he is back on top of the water ski world, and more determined than ever.

“The skis, which seemed so far away a few months ago, are now under my feet. It’s an indescribable feeling — rediscovering speed, freedom, adrenaline,” Tristan shared on social media last month. “No matter how serious the fall, what always matters is the strength to get back up.”

Post-injury, he has opted to specialize in tricks and jump, no longer competing in slalom or overall — a move he describes as “full of doubts, sacrifices, and self-questioning” but one that is clearly paying dividends.

Older brother Louis, the reigning world overall champion, also impressed in Auburndale. A 69.8-meter jump (229 feet) — a personal best and new French record — punched his ticket in jump, while tricking over 12,000 points locked in qualification there as well.

The past year has tested the Duplan-Fribourg brothers. Louis rebounded from shoulder surgery to finish runner-up to Joel Poland on the WWS Overall Tour, while Pol — who recently captured the 2025 University World overall title — had his 2024 season derailed by a fractured ankle and herniated disc.

Across the weekend, several other skiers also booked their tickets to the 2025 Masters. Thomas Degasperi, Vennesa Vieke, and Paige Rini Pigozzi advanced in slalom; Patricio Font, Rini Pigozzi, and Giannina Bonnemann Mechler in tricks; and Jack Critchley, Aliaksandra Danishuesksaya, and Regina Jaquess in jump.

But it is Tristan’s comeback that lingers.

Eleven months ago, his world was hospital rooms and hard questions. This weekend, it was measured in rotations and records — and in the quiet certainty of someone who never stopped believing.

Masters Revises Qualification Criteria—A Step Forward, for Some

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Masters revises qualification criteria—A step forward, for some

2025 Masters Water Ski Criteria (image: Masters)

By Jack Burden

May 2, 2025

There’s been movement in the boardrooms of Correct Craft.

After growing discontent—and at least one shouted critique—the Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament has announced revised qualification criteria for 2025. It’s not a wholesale reform, but it is a tangible step forward.

The headline tweak? Repeat champions will no longer monopolize invitation slots. If a skier sweeps multiple qualifying events—as Ryan Dodd did in 2023 by winning all four Nautique-sanctioned tournaments—their dominance won’t cost someone else a chance. Now, when an athlete wins more than one qualifying event, the additional invitations cascade down to the next-best finishers. That’s how Will Asher, Matias Gonzalez, and Lauren Morgan—standouts over the last 12 months—have secured their tickets to Callaway Gardens without relying on a frantic last-minute qualifier.

It’s a simple adjustment—but in a system accused of favoring geography over merit, it’s a meaningful one.

And it’s already having an impact. Heading into this weekend’s first Masters Qualifier, half the spots in most professional disciplines are already spoken for. That’s a stark contrast to 2024, when as many as seven of eight invitations in some events were decided during two mid-May weekends in Central Florida. The shift gives deserving pros more breathing room—and a clearer path to one of the sport’s most prestigious stages.

But the momentum stops short.

The new rules do not extend to the Junior Masters, where qualification criteria remain virtually unchanged. The repeat champion clause? Still absent. Junior skiers must continue to rely heavily on results from these two amateur events—both held in Central Florida.

It’s a system that may reward proximity over potential. While professional athletes often live and train year-round in the Sunshine State, juniors typically don’t have that luxury—nor the freedom to miss multiple weeks of school in pursuit of a qualification score.

The result? A field that increasingly resembles a Florida state championship with a glossy title.

Imagine telling a 15-year-old phenom from Chile or France that their shot at one of the sport’s biggest youth stages depends not just on talent, but on whether their parents can bankroll a multi-week Florida tour during exam season. That’s not a qualification system—it’s a filter for privilege.

There are viable solutions. For juniors, allocating some of the invitations based on the amateur performance ranking list seems a logical fit for an amateur event. As we’ve discussed in the past, the Waterski Pro Tour standings could help shape qualification for professionals as well.

Let’s be clear: Nautique and the Masters deserve credit. The 2025 update is an overdue acknowledgment that the pandemic-era system was flawed—and that the sport’s top talent deserves better. The new rules are already producing fairer outcomes.

But they also send a second message: the old system wasn’t working.

So why stop halfway?

The Masters has always been more than just a tournament. It’s a gathering of champions, steeped in history—a flagship for the sport. But if it hopes to maintain that status in a globalized, post-pandemic era, the path to Robin Lake must be one the entire world can realistically reach.

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Author: Jack Burden

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