Waterski Pro Tour

If this season of men’s slalom has had a theme, it has been of multiple winners. After a full four years and ten months of only four male victors in pro slalom, earlier this year the floodgates opened. On the Tour this year we can count seven winners across just nine stops (with a further two victors in external events). There have been many stories to set these wins apart from the rest: the 38 year old seasoned pro finally getting over the line, the return win after 6 years of trying and a win on return from injury. Yesterday at the Travers Grand Prix however, we saw what will almost certainly prove to be the most seismic.

Lucas Cornale is a name very few slalom fans knew as recently at the start of this year. A teenager with a couple of junior championship podiums and an aggressive style was not expected to be one of the stories of the year on the pro scene. And yet here we are. After a debut podium in March at Moomba behind two world champions, he yesterday stunned the pro waterski scene with the youngest pro slalom win in living memory at 19 years old. It won’t be his last – not even close.

And this was not a plucky, toe over the line win. This was dominance. His first two rounds were good but not exceptional, just enough to qualify in the 8th and final spot. Out first in a field made up entirely of past winners – except, of course, himself – he went for it. With barely a hesitation he turned the 3 at 10.25m/ 41off that is so often the difference between good and great in the men’s slalom field, on his way to scoring a huge 4.5. Even with seven of the best left to ski, this performance looked like it might stand up.

After a groundbreaking run, a nervy wait. The webcast cameras frequently caught Lucas’s looking surprisingly calm as each skier failed to beat his score but there must have been some angst underneath the typically laidback demeanor. Jon Travers got the closest with 4, a worthy reward at the tournament he has organized and run since 2018. Corey Vaughn and Dane Mechlers, another pair of debut winners this year, tied for the last podium spot after matching scores in every round.

Ironically, despite his very unusual final placement of 12th, this result actually increases the chances of a Will Asher victory of the 2024 Waterski Pro Tour. The chasing pack on the Leaderboard all needed a win to stay in the fight for the top prize at the end of the year. Nate Smith, not present at Travers and with a handful of entries this year, is the only threat to Asher’s second title – he needs to win both remaining events with best scores in each, while hoping Will stays outside of the top 2. Asher at 42 has the most wins in men’s slalom this year with three. Perhaps the whispers of a changing of the guard are premature. Below him there are just nine points between Corey Vaughn and Smith in tied 2nd (160 points) and Travers in 6th (151 points). Two events left. The podium fight is going to be fast and furious.

Comparatively, the women’s field has been something like business as usual this year, as it was at this event. Not that it wasn’t exciting. Ahead of the rest of the field by a margin, each of Jaimee Bull, Regina Jaquess and Whitney McClintock-Rini traded the lead between them across the three rounds, with not one 10.75m missed – until a run-off for the win. Jaquess’s course record of 2.5 at 10.25 paired with Bull and McClintock Rini each scoring 2 made the second round of qualifying the highest scoring ever. Jaimee and Whitney were once again tied at 2 in the final as Regina managed 1. So a run-off for the win, a repeat of the 2021 Malibu Open. As in that instance, Whitney won but this time more spectacularly, running 10.75m straight off the dock, before another 2 at 10.25m. Jaimee followed and looked great on 10.75 until 4 but an uncharacteristically poor 5 left her stranded in 2nd. Making up for her disappointing MasterCraft Pro last week, Whitney now has two wins in three as she accelerates during this countdown til the end of the season.

Bull has held the lead of the Tour since the opening stop in May. A very strong showing at the mid-season events outside of the USA put strong daylight between her and the rest. This gap has been eaten into over the last three events, however, as her two great competitors have shared the wins. Both McClintock-Rini and Jaquess can take the Tour win with victories at the last two events as they aim to deny Bull a fourth consecutive Tour win. Paired with a huge showdown in men’s jump at King of Darkness at the end of the month, the nighttime event is set to be explosive. See you there.

For event highlights, scores, replays and more visit Waterski Pro Tour.

Waterski Pro Tour

As the saying goes, all good things come to an end. During the last weeks we have enjoyed a hugely exciting, frenetic and unpredictable stint of Tour dates which included an expansion into a novel continent, milestone anniversaries and deepening foundations. Appropriately, this wonderful leg of non-stop Tour action finished with a first on the Waterski Pro Tour – a slalom night final – in a country with serious slalom heritage. The UK’s Oxfordshire Pro-Am sent the Tour back to the USA with a bang.

When asked of hotbeds for high-end waterskiing, a casual observer would be forgiven for putting the UK fairly far down the list. The island nation’s infamously mediocre weather is not as conducive to watersports as the more tropical temperatures – and far less rain – found to the south in continental Europe. However, for whatever reason, the country has produced huge amounts of waterski talent, especially in the men’s slalom division. Indeed, since hosting the World Championships for the first time in 1975 no country has more men’s slalom championships (10, USA also 10). It also boasts 3 of the 6 multiple time men’s slalom world champions (UK 3, USA 2, Italy 1). Oxford Wake and Ski Club has been nurturing this talent since 2012, holding a pro event this year seemed the natural next step.

After an excessively dismal year of weather so far – yes, even by UK standards – the water at Oxford was 3 feet higher than usual, resulting in some challengingly rolly conditions. However over the course of the preliminary rounds both the men’s and the women’s field put up some good scores in order to qualify for the night final. Notably Sasha Descuns of France ran a very respectable 3@10.25m to take top seed with hometown hero Arron Davies putting in his best Tour performance of back to back 10.75s to take 3rd seed. On the women’s side Jaimee Bull excelled once more with 5@10.75m.

But then, the final. It’s fair to say all finalists would be, at best, unused to skiing under the lights after over a decade without a night final, while many would never have skied one. It wasn’t until 9.45pm and near total darkness that the floodlights were switched on for the action to commence. Apprehension was apparent, with a number of skiers vocalizing their expectation that the decreased visibility would lead to a feeling of excess speed on the water during their pre-set interviews. 

Generally the first crop of women skied the best part of a pass less than their daytime scores with some cagey or safe skiing, depending on your perspective. That is until third seed Manon Costard attacked the dark and scored a quite amazing 2.5@10.75m, a full buoy superior than her previous best of the weekend under sunlight. This put serious pressure on the remaining two – Allie Nicholson, champion of Marrakesh last month, and Jaimee Bull, victor in the Italian and Monogasque events more recently. Surprisingly neither made it through 11.25m, resulting in Costard’s first professional win since September 2020. After oh-so-many near misses since, there was not a happier face in the UK. Competition, however, would arrive an hour later.

The men’s field followed something of a similar pattern. Will Asher, so adept at tough conditions, surprised everyone with an early low score as did Rob Hazelwood. However, a mid-pack triple whammy of completed runs at 11.25 left Corey Vaughn in the lead with 2.5@10.75m, ahead of Adam Sedlmajer and Thomas Degasperi on 2, with the top three seeds left. Minutes later falls from Davies, Joel Poland and Descuns resulted in an incredibly emotional Vaugh taking his first pro victory at 38 years old in his 16th year on the circuit. Both winners then were able to drop a monkey from their back; their seasons will continue unburdened from here.

And so, after the busiest period of the year, and over half the slalom Tour done, Asher and Bull remain in commanding positions at the top of the Leaderboards with 243 and 298 points respectively. Costards 2nd last week in Italy and victory in the UK has catapulted her into the top 3 with 138 points. Rob Hazelwood moves into outright 2nd with his 8th place finish just edging him back ahead of Cole McCormick with 122 to 118 points.

This thick and fast Africa-Europe stint has in many ways become the centerpiece of the year with its varied countries, lakes and the challenge for the skiers to keep their level high with such little practice. No doubt next year will be just as exciting. Looking ahead to the immediate future, the Tour takes a short break before a return to the USA, and excitingly the jump event, at the California Pro-Am in late August. This will be followed very closely by the Canada Cup jump event within a few days. See you there.

For event highlights, scores, replays and more visit Waterski Pro Tour.