Can Anyone Stop This U.S. Team at Worlds?
Image: USA Waterski
By Jack Burden
The names are in. The roster is set. And for the first time in nearly two decades, Team USA will head to the Open World Championships with a male overall skier in the lineup.
The American Water Ski Association’s International Activities Committee has announced the six athletes who will represent the United States at the 2025 IWWF Open World Championships in Recetto, Italy, from August 26–31:
- Jake Abelson
- Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya
- Kennedy Hansen
- Regina Jaquess
- Freddy Krueger
- Erika Lang
It’s a loaded team—experienced, decorated, and packed with world records—but the headline is 17-year-old Jake Abelson, the first male overall skier selected for Team USA since Jimmy Siemers in 2009. It’s been almost as long as Abelson has been alive.
Since Siemers’ retirement, men’s overall has been America’s Achilles’ heel—despite a steady pipeline of overlooked talent. Abelson, the breakout trick skier of 2025, with rapidly improving jump and reliable slalom scores, could signal a long-overdue shift.
Another standout addition is Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya, the 2021 World Overall Champion—then skiing for Belarus. She’s now under the U.S. banner, having lived and trained stateside for over a decade and recently marrying American jumper Taylor Garcia.
Her inclusion raises eyebrows—not for lack of pedigree, but because of her international path. Danisheuskaya was among a group of Belarusian athletes who switched affiliations after the IWWF banned Russian and Belarusian skiers in response to the war in Ukraine. In 2023, she and Hanna Straltsova competed under the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports (USAWSWS) umbrella in a legal gray zone that blurred nationality rules. With the ban now lifted and new eligibility procedures in place, Danisheuskaya’s spot on Team USA is both official and, from a competitive standpoint, a major asset.
Alongside her are legends still at the top of their game. Regina Jaquess remains an ageless force. Erika Lang is a perennial threat. Freddy Krueger, now in his 50s, continues to fly farther than athletes half his age. And Kennedy Hansen—one of the sport’s best young all-arounders—brings team balance and three-event reliability.
It’s a squad built not just to defend the world team title reclaimed in 2023—but to do it with depth and purpose.
Standing in their way, however, is the most consistently dominant team of the modern era: Canada. Led by Dorien Llewellyn and Paige Rini Pigozzi, their ceiling is as high as any—if their health and form hold. Dorien, once trading records with Joel Poland, is still working back to his best after a major injury. Paige, an elegant slalomer and capable tricker and jumper, hasn’t competed much in overall since the 2023 Worlds.
If they’re sharp, the Canadians will be hard to beat.
France, Great Britain, and Australia are all podium threats as well—though none may have the six-skier depth to match the U.S. or Canada across all events.
But for Team USA, this isn’t just about the podium. This roster represents something bigger: a return to the formula that once made them untouchable. From the 1950s to the early ’90s, the U.S. never lost a team title. Since then, they’ve won just 7 of 17. The gap? Often, it’s been men’s overall.
Jake Abelson might not win gold in Recetto. But his selection is a signal—of belief, of change, of remembering what built a dynasty in the first place.
Team titles aren’t won with six individual stars. They’re won with balance. With skiers who fight for every point in every event. With teams that feel—not just strong—but complete.
This one finally does.
Let the countdown begin.
