The final stages of the 2024 season have featured a marathon sprint of professional tournaments, all located in Florida, the epicenter of world water skiing. Six tournaments over seven weeks at some of the world’s best sites showcasing incredible performances, with both new and familiar winners and season-long storylines coming to a thrilling resolution. But one thing has been noticeably absent: crowds.
That is, until the recently concluded MasterCraft King of Darkness (KoD), a night jump event with a festival atmosphere that harkens back to the days when water skiing was in the public eye and professional water skiing was a viable career for more than a dominant few.
This isn’t to say there was anything lacking in the events that preceded KoD. The Waterski Pro Tour events at Fluid and Travers featured excellent TWBC broadcasts and captivated waterski fans, especially with two first-time winners in the slalom event. The Travers Grand Prix is a unique and hugely popular event for both pro and amateur participants. Likewise, the WWS Overall Tour finale showcased the highest level of overall skiing our sport has ever seen, and the recap videos, although not widely viewed, have reintroduced a format with potential to engage the casual viewer.
But call me old-fashioned—nothing beats the energy of an in-person crowd. There’s a reason so many skiers name the Moomba Masters as their favorite event, and why the U.S. Masters has such an enduring legacy: the enthusiastic, knowledgeable on-site audience.
Professional water skiing at its core is a show, and KoD exemplified this with perfect choreography. There was no downtime, with adorable juniors, barefooters, show skiers, and even some Joel Poland theatrics keeping the energy high from start to finish.
The level of skiing at KoD will likely be what sticks in water ski fans’ minds: the highest slalom cut of all time, a women’s head-to-head with a 100% success rate at 10.75m (39.5’), and personal bests from Hanna Straltsova, Luca Rauchenwald, and Poland in jump. But to the casual spectator, it’s the competition itself that draws attention.
For perhaps the first time in 2024, women’s jump was a close battle, with Straltsova needing her final jump to surpass a resurgent Brittany Wharton. The men’s jump was equally intense, with Taylor Garcia and Luca Rauchenwald nearly forcing a second runoff of 2024 for their maiden pro wins, before Poland reasserted his dominance. Meanwhile, Freddy Krueger missed the podium for the first time in Waterski Pro Tour history, and even Dorien Llewellyn’s impressive 67m (220’) jump was only enough for fifth under the lights.
Credit is due to the organizers, who put extraordinary effort—and investment—into attracting such a fantastic crowd. Free attractions, a live band, food trucks, and a beer garden enticed the local community, and the event was prominently featured in local media throughout the lead-up. Once again, KoD was well attended.
This stands in stark contrast to the preceding four events, which were attended by few outside the competitors themselves. Live webcasts attracted several hundred more dedicated waterski fans, but it’s hard to imagine these events broadening the fan base like KoD did this weekend. Countless families and young children were exposed to the sport, perhaps inspired to give water skiing a try themselves.
It’s beautiful, suspenseful, uplifting—water skiing at its finest. And the sport needs more of it. King of Darkness, take a bow.
