By Jack Burden

POLK CITY, Fla. — It’s official: trick skiing has a new benchmark, and Jake Abelson’s name is etched beside it.

The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) confirmed today that Abelson’s 13,020-point performance at the Bill Wenner Memorial Record tournament on June 14 has been ratified as a new men’s world trick record.

The 17-year-old American becomes the first skier in history to break the 13,000-point barrier, surpassing his own previous record of 12,970 set last year.

“It’s always been my goal to trick 13,000, if it was even possible,” Abelson said on USA Water Ski’s Hit It! podcast. “After my 12,970, I realized that it could be done if I had the best round—and I was able to put the hand run and the toe run together.”

He did. And then some.

Abelson actually went higher in the following round of the same event, tricking a jaw-dropping 13,270 points. But that score was ultimately disallowed by the IWWF record review panel after his wake-seven-front (W7F) was ruled not credit. The panel reduced the score to 13,010 for ranking purposes, leaving the 13,020 from Round 1 as the new official world record.

Still, it’s a monumental achievement—24 years in the making.

The men’s trick world record has long moved at a glacial pace. In the 18 years following Nicolas Le Forestier’s 2004 mark, it was broken just once. The stagnation gave trick skiing a reputation as the most frozen of the three disciplines.

That changed in 2022, when Patricio Font jump-started a new era with a flurry of record-setting performances. Now, Abelson has taken that torch and launched it into uncharted territory.

His 13,020 wasn’t a fluke. It was the culmination of years of work—gymnastics-level strength, surgical timing, and tournament composure.

The hand pass opens with a blistering sequence of high-difficulty flips. At the bitter end of the 20-second window—when most skiers are clinging to their last breath—Abelson unleashes his most difficult combo: ski-line-seven-back-to-back into wake-seven-front. Together, those two tricks are worth 1,550 points and demand perfect placement and timing.

“Really the only place for it is at the end of the run,” Abelson said. “But at that time, I’m pretty tired, pretty gassed. So learning to do that while tired was a real challenge.”

That final sequence was the key. Without it, 13,000 wasn’t possible.

With the record now ratified, the obvious question follows: Is 14,000 next?

“People keep asking me that,” Abelson said, laughing. “I’m not brainstorming that point yet.” For now, the teenager says he’s focused on taking things “one trick at a time.”

He’s right to be cautious. Trick skiing is a race against the clock—20 seconds, no more. As tricks become more difficult, the challenge isn’t just execution. It’s speed, efficiency, and composure. And that means the margin for further progress is slim.

But Abelson isn’t done yet.

He’ll represent Team USA later this month at the IWWF World Under-21 Championships in Calgary, followed by the IWWF World Open Championships in Recetto, Italy, this August.

And it’s not just in trick. Abelson was recently named to the U.S. team in overall, a nod to his emergence as one of the sport’s most complete athletes.

His story is still in its early chapters. But already, the impact is clear.

Jake Abelson didn’t just break a world record—he shattered a mental barrier. And maybe a generational one too.