For the second consecutive year, the Swiss Pro Tricks has the honor of kicking off the highly anticipated Waterski Pro Tour. Following its success in 2023, this unique trick-only event promises to once again captivate fans with its thrilling performances. With an all-star lineup, including every world trick champion from the past decade, the stage is set for another exhilarating competition.
In its inaugural edition, the Swiss Pro Tricks made history by witnessing three trickers surpass the 12,000-point mark in the same tournament. Joel Poland, Louis Duplan-Fribourg, and Patricio Font all showcased their class during the qualifying rounds, with Font even tying his world record before Poland clinched the event with yet another remarkable 12,000-point performance. The tournament also set a record for the most scores over 11,000 points, including Erika Lang, who achieved the highest score ever by a woman in a professional event on her path to victory.
Reflecting on the excitement and intensity of the event, Trent Finlayson shared on the Waterski Pro Tour podcast, “The skiing was unlike anything that has ever happened in the history of the sport.” He added, “It was so exciting; that was the easiest tournament for me to watch since I’ve been tuning into these pro events on webcasts.” Matteo Luzzeri concurred, stating, “the scores with which both the men and the women were won, these are scores that were unimaginable, let’s say, 10 years ago.”
“Adding another event to the tournament season is awesome for us trickers,” shared Lang after her victory. Similarly, Poland expressed his excitement, stating, “It’s really important for us as trickers to have events; we’ve been lacking a little bit recently.” He added, “Tricking’s coming back! I’m getting goosebumps saying it.”
Building upon the success of the previous year, the 2024 Waterski Pro Tour is poised to reach new heights with increased prize money and the introduction of exciting new events such as the Marrakech K1000 Pro and the Oxfordshire ProAm. While tour events primarily focus on slalom, with only four jump and two trick events planned, the proliferation of slalom competitions promises nonstop viewing action for fans over the summer. Particularly noteworthy are the significant gains in women’s slalom, with 2024 on track to feature the highest professional prize purse in the history of women’s skiing.
The tour’s next stop will be the Swiss Pro Slalom, taking place just two weeks later in Central Florida, before attention shifts to the Masters qualifying series. The battle for the season championship in women’s slalom is anticipated to be fiercely contested, with defending champion Jaimee Bull, world record holder Regina Jaquess, and multiple-time world champion Whitney McClintock Rini vying for supremacy.
With anticipation building, fans eagerly await the start of the Waterski Pro Tour. Who will emerge victorious in 2024?
Water skiing’s coliseum. Nothing quite compares to the roar of the crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder along the banks of the Yarra River. Here, champions are tested, legacies are crafted, and the sport basks in the spotlight.
Moomba Monday, a public holiday in Melbourne for the annual festival, holds a significant place in the sport of water skiing. This year’s finals added another compelling chapter to the rich history of the longest-running professional water ski tournament.
A heatwave kept the crowds slightly lower than usual, as fans and festival-goers sought shade from the searing Melbourne sun. However, as evening descended, the banks were packed with spectators, especially for the night jump events.
In the trick event, the showdown between Canadian Neilly Ross and American Erika Lang ended with tied scores after the preliminary round. Ross stuck with a conservative run in the final, earning a solid 9,780 points. However, this left the door open for Lang to secure a comfortable margin of victory for her sixth Moomba Masters title, despite falling at the end of her toe run.
The men’s trick final promised to be a spectacle, especially after Jake Abelson and Matias Gonzalez set the two highest scores ever recorded on the Yarra River during Junior Moomba earlier in the week. The final was closely contested, with only 70 points separating Abelson and the reigning world champion, Patricio Font. In the end, a tight timing call decided the winner, giving Font his third Moomba title.
The women’s slalom event was dominated by the Florida contingent, with Elizabeth Montavon and Whitney McClintock Rini putting up solid scores. However, they fell short of world record holder Regina Jaquess, who claimed her first Moomba Masters slalom title on her first visit to the Yarra since 2012. Jaquess’ victory filled the only discernible gap in her long and illustrious resume.
Lucas Cornale, a rising star in world slalom skiing, made waves by becoming the first junior to run 10.75m (39.5′ off) on the Yarra earlier in the week. He continued his stellar performances in the open division, securing his first professional podium by beating seasoned professionals such as Thomas Degasperi and Corey Vaughn. Although Joel Howley set the bar with 0.5 @ 10.25m (41′ off), it wasn’t enough to fend off reigning world champion Freddie Winter, who claimed his first Moomba Masters title.
In the jump event, although the scoresheets may have suggested everything went to script, they failed to capture the exhilaration of the event. The women came out strong, sensing an opportunity to put pressure on an underprepared Jacinta Carroll, who was competing just 100 days after giving birth. All six finalists improved on their preliminary scores, some by several meters, but it was still Carroll, the greatest female jumper of all time, who took the win on her second jump with 51.8 meters (170 feet).
In an emotional speech following her 10th consecutive Moomba Masters victory, Jacinta announced her retirement from professional water skiing, sharing, “I started my professional career here in 2011 when I won my first Moomba Masters, so it was only fitting that I come back this year for my last professional jump event.” When asked if there was any chance we could see her back in 2025, Jacinta responded, “there’s a glimmer, and that’s why I sold my boat before this event,” marking an end to one of the most decorated careers in our sport.
The men’s jump final was equally gripping, with Jack Critchley and Pol Duplan-Fribourg posting solid scores over 200 feet but probably feeling that they had left the door open for a one-and-done Ryan Dodd victory. The 39-year-old Canadian stumbled, slipping out on his first two attempts before finally ripping off the biggest jump of the tournament on his third and final to win his fifth Moomba Masters jump title.
In the night jump finals, the younger competitors took center stage, with Critchley recording the biggest jump off the 5.5-foot ramp in the first round. Ultimately, Duplan-Fribourg emerged victorious in a one-jump shootout with Dodd, becoming the youngest to win a professional jump event since Critchley’s first title in 2017.
Overall, the 2024 season kicked off in spectacular fashion, with drama, intrigue, first-time champions, and record-breaking performances on the Yarra River. Once again, Melbourne has delivered an unforgettable event, leaving fans eagerly anticipating the next edition in 2025.
The fourth professional tournament in 10 days, slalom and trick skiing returns to Spain for the BOTASKI ProAm, which has declined Pro Tour status again in 2024.
Swiss Pro Tricks to Open 2025 Waterski Pro TourFor the third straight year, the Swiss Pro Tricks will kick off the season, and if recent history is any guide, this Central Florida showdown won’t be easing into anything.
Stream It and They Will Come?The 2025 Swiss Pro Slalom has been downgraded from the Waterski Pro Tour due to insufficient prize money, raising broader questions about the sport's future.
Moomba Magic: New Champions Rise on the YarraThe 2025 Moomba Masters was a festival of breakthroughs and unexpected turns, a reminder that on the Yarra, past records and rankings often mean little.
The IWWF Water Ski Council has given the green light to four new flips for the upcoming season, potentially infusing the sport with a sense of novelty and innovation. However, despite this approval, one of the creators of these flips is expressing skepticism, stating, “you will never see them in a tournament” at current point values.
1. BFLSLB (“Super Half Twist”)
Backflip with a ski-line-back
Submitted by Clarens Lavau
Approved at 850 points
2. BFLSLO (“Supermobe Front-to-Front” or “UFO”)
Backflip with a ski-line-360
Submitted by Joel Poland
Approved at 900 points
3. RFFLF (“Reverse Half Jack”)
Frontflip from the back-to-the-front (regular and reverse)
Submitted by Axel Garcia
Approved at 850 points
4. FFLSL5F (“Super Front Five” or “Matrix”)
Frontflip with a ski-line-540 from the back-to-the-front
Submitted by Joel Poland
Approved at 950 points
Joel Poland, the architect behind two of these flips, revealed his reservations about the process for assigning point values to new tricks. Both the ‘UFO’ and ‘Matrix’ were successfully executed in 2022, with Poland debating whether it was worthwhile to submit them for approval. In correspondence with the IWWF, he shared, “[I] didn’t feel like it was worth sending them in as the point values would make them another trick on the list we would never see in competition.” Poland remained hopeful, stating, “But I have hope that we can come together and create a point value that makes them worthwhile.”
Upon learning the IWWF-assigned point values, Poland expressed understandable frustration. Regarding the ‘Matrix,’ a frontflip with a 540-degree spin over the rope, he voiced disbelief that it was valued only 150 points more than a regular frontflip. In his words, “The point values for high difficulty flips, in my opinion, are crippling trick and limiting the athletes.”
Poland’s frustration resonates with many top trick skiers and fans, who are in agreement that there is a pressing need for change in the point values assigned to high-end flips.
The most perplexing aspect of this issue is that no one seems opposed to a revision of the trick points in principle. IWWF Water Ski Council Chairman Candido Moz has expressed vocal support in the past for rationalizing trick values. As recently as October, he urged the newly formed Trick Working Group to bring forth proposals for better recognizing “the true difficulty levels” across tricks.
As Freddie Winter highlighted in an insightful Waterski Journal article on the subject, the issue is how to get a consensus on specific changes when each skier, or coach, has a vested interest in elevating the value of tricks they excel at while suppressing the value of those they do not. In the past “the skiers could never agree on point values, so [the] IWWF never received a proposal,” shared Moz.
Instigating change, especially in the face of entrenched interests, is difficult. It may require a new generation to step forward and advocate for reforms. Poland, for his part, remains steadfast. “[I] intend to be very vocal about [point values] in the coming months.”
In this quiz, you need to name all the skiers, male or female, who scored more than 10,000 points in 2023.
The list has 27 skiers, all of whom tricked over 10,000 points at least once in a world ranking tournament in 2023. Although the list is dominated by men, there are five women on the list, three of whom tricked over 11,000 points in 2023. We have mentioned the number of scores over 10,000, as well as the country and top score in the mentioned time period.
In this quiz, you need to name the female skiers with the highest trick scores by country.
The list has 13 skiers, all of whom have tricked over 8,000 points at least once in a world ranking tournament. Remarkably, over a third of these national records were set in 2023. We have mentioned the country, as well as top score and year it was achieved.
In this quiz, you need to name the skiers with the highest trick scores by country.
The list has 23 skiers, all of whom have tricked over 9,000 points at least once in a world ranking tournament. Remarkably, over a third of these national records were set in 2023. We have mentioned the country, as well as top score and year it was achieved.
Within the dynamic realm of trick skiing, a select group of female athletes have etched their names into the annals of the sport’s history. With a blend of unmatched performances on grand stages, record-shattering feats, and an unwavering commitment to their craft, these remarkable skiers have woven an unforgettable narrative. This article embarks on a journey through the rankings of trick skiing’s finest, illuminating their accomplishments and profound impact on the sport. Each woman’s extraordinary voyage and unparalleled achievements have solidified their positions as revered icons in the realm of trick skiing.
‘Greatest Of’ lists in any sport are inherently subjective and water skiing is no exception. There’s no definitive checklist to crown someone as the absolute best. Every fan out there has their own opinion. But decisions had to be made. We proudly present our picks for the 10 best female trick skiers in the history of competitive water skiing. So sit back, enjoy, and maybe even debate a little over our choices—after all, that’s the fun of it!
Legend has it that a young Natallia was waiting in line to swim laps as part of her competitive swim training when she accidentally wandered into the shorter queue for cable trick skiing. After successfully getting up on her first attempt, the coach noticed her potential and pulled her into the Belarusian water ski program, setting her on a trajectory that would significantly alter the course of her life.
Although jump and overall were arguably her strongest events, Natalia picked up four World Championships trick medals between 2007 and 2017, including a runner-up finish in 2007 and being crowned world champion in 2011. She won the 2017 World Games, two U.S. Masters trick titles, and four Moomba Masters trick titles, including three consecutive victories from 2010 to 2012. She was the first woman to score 9,000 points in trick skiing, breaking the world record three times and coming agonizingly close to 10,000 with a personal best of 9,990 points.
Clementine Lucine is the IWSF 2007 Female Athlete of the Year (image: IWSF)
9. Clementine Lucine
In 2011, the Frenchwoman made history by becoming the first woman to trick 10,000 points. This achievement was the culmination of a long and fruitful career. As a junior, she clinched trick and overall titles at the 1998 U17 World Championships. She continued her success, winning a total of eight medals at the Open World Championships between 2003 and 2013.
Clem broke the world record four times throughout her career. She picked up three World Championships medals in trick skiing, with her greatest success coming in 2007 when she won both the tricks and overall disciplines. She also won a U.S. Masters in 2006, a Moomba Masters in 2009, and the World Games in 2013. Clem had the benefit of her professional peak coinciding with the IWWF World Cup era, winning six world cup stops between 2005 and 2013, with a winning percentage of just over 33%.
The youngest of the legendary Carrasco sisters from Venezuela, Ana Maria featured on eight World Championship podiums between 1979 and 1989, including clinching the world trick title in 1981 and the world overall title in 1983. In total, she picked up four World Championships medals in the trick event. Competing at the inaugural World Games in 1981, she won took gold in tricks and overall. Ana Maria was also a four-time U.S. Masters champion, including three trick titles. She broke the world trick record five times through the 1980s, becoming the first woman to score 8,000 points in 1984. Ahead of her time in the trick event, her top score of 8,350 would only be exceeded by a handful of women over the next two decades.
Maria Victoria made history by winning three consecutive World Championships from 1973 to 1977, becoming the first woman to achieve this feat in any discipline. Her prowess extended to the U.S. Masters, where she clinched victory three times. Throughout the 1970s, she broke the world record on four occasions, maintaining her hold on the record for nearly the entire decade. A pioneer of the sport, she significantly elevated the standard of women’s tricking from 4,000 points to her final record of 5,880 points in 1979.
A 20-year Career of Consistent Trick Runs (image: USA-WWF)
6. Britt Larsen-Kovak
It feels almost cruel to separate the identical twins, especially when they were inducted into the IWWF Hall of Fame as a joint entry in 2009. Although not quite ascending to the same extraordinary heights as her sister, Britt showcased remarkable prowess in trick skiing, forming one half of the most dominant trick skiing duo in the sport’s history. The twins frequently performed nearly identical trick runs, with victory often hinging on their precision and speed of execution.
Britt featured on every World Championships podium from 1989 to 1999, earning two coveted gold medals in 1993 and 1997. Her achievements also included triumphs in three out of four stops on the short-lived 1987 U.S. Grand Prix of Water Skiing, along with four U.S. Open championships. During the mid-1990s, Britt had an exceptional run of form, edging ahead of her sister to secure a three-year consecutive streak of U.S. Masters victories from 1993 to 1995 and a 1994 Moomba Masters win.
Natalia Rumjantseva at the 1981 World Championships (image: Youtube)
5. Natalia Rumjantseva
Being a Soviet Union skier during the height of the Cold War, Natalia faced restricted opportunities to compete on the global stage, mostly limited to the World Championships. Despite these limitations, her intense rivalry with Ana Maria Carrasco throughout the 1980s significantly propelled the advancement of women’s trick skiing. From 1979 to 1993, Natalia secured three World Championships trick titles and achieved runner-up positions on three additional occasions. Notably, she broke the world record five times between 1979 and 1984, distinguishing herself as the first woman to surpass both the 6,000 and 7,000-point marks.
Had she been afforded the chance to participate in events like the U.S. and Moomba Masters, there is little doubt that Natalia could have secured an even higher position on this list.
With a water ski pedigree that proudly boasts two U.S. National Champion trick skiers as parents, Anna was always destined for greatness. She ascended to the summit of the elite ranks in 2015, securing victories at the U.S. Open and the World Championships. This accomplishment was followed by an undefeated season in 2016, where she claimed triumphs at the Moomba Masters, U.S. Masters, and successfully defended her U.S. Open title. As the pinnacle of her achievements that year, she broke the world record, a feat she would replicate once more and uphold for two years.
Anna’s accolades also include consecutive U17 World Championships in 2014 and 2016, along with successive U21 World Championships in 2017 and 2019, culminating in an overall victory at the latter competition. In aggregate, she is a three-time open world champion, a two-time U.S. Masters and Moomba Masters champion, and stands among a select group of three women who have achieved trick scores surpassing 11,000 points.
Still in her early 20s, Anna has the potential to ascend even higher on this list if she continues her current trajectory.
Mandy Nightingale competing at an IWWF World Cup Stop in Changshu, China (image: IWSF)
3. Mandy Nightingale
The most dominant female tricker during the golden era of professional trick skiing. Her first major victory came at the 1994 U17 World Championships. However, it was in the 2000s that she ascended to the pinnacle of the elite ranks.
She clinched consecutive World Championships in 2003 and 2005, maintaining a presence on every World Championship podium from 2003 to 2007. Mandy was also a four-time U.S. Open champion and triumphed at the U.S. Masters in 2003 and 2005. In 2006, she broke Tawn Larsen’s seemingly unbeatable world trick record, which had endured for seven years, making it the longest-standing women’s trick record. Perhaps most remarkably, during the period when women’s tricking boasted the largest cash prizes, Mandy emerged victorious in over 50% of IWWF World Cup stops between 2005 and 2009, finishing on the podium in all but two World Cup stops she competed in.
A top-level competitive gymnast during her teenage years, the Arizona native exhibited her remarkable talent from an early age. Erika had a golden run in 2013, clinching victory in both the trick and overall disciplines at the U17 World Championships, and despite her diminutive frame, she narrowly missed securing the slalom title, finishing second in a runoff. Within the same year, she won the Moomba Masters, an IWWF World Cup stop in Mandurah, and the Open World Championships. Adding the icing on the cake, she finished the season by breaking her first world record—becoming only the second woman to reach 10,000 points.
Erika has since elevated women’s skiing to new heights, revolutionizing the sport. Her flipping ability rivals that of the leading male skiers and has transferred into success on the professional wakeboard circuit. She has broken the world record a total of seven times, holding the record for eight of the past ten years. Over the last decade, she has extended the record from a little over 10,000 points to her current mark of 11,360 points.
Thriving in a field of fierce competition, Erika boasts a winning rate just shy of 50% in professional tournaments since her breakout season in 2013. Her accomplishments include five Moomba Masters titles, four U.S. Masters championships, and a U.S. Open victory. On the global stage, she has also earned the title of U21 world champion, Pan American Games champion, and her achievements encompass podium finishes at the Open World Championships in 2017, 2021, and 2023, finally clinching a second world title at the latter event. Erika’s groundbreaking performances have undeniably redefined the landscape of women’s trick skiing.
Image: WATERSKI Magazine
1. Tawn Larsen-Hahn
In the realm of water skiing, many remarkable siblings have left their mark over the years. Families like the LaPoints, Duvalls, Roberges, Llewellyns, McClintocks, and Carrascos have taken turns dominating the sport. However, few siblings can rival the sustained supremacy held by the Larsen twins in women’s trick skiing during the late 1980s and 1990s. Over their two-decade-long career, it was Tawn Larsen who ultimately emerged as the preeminent trick skier in the world. Talented from a young age, she clinched her first Open Women’s title at the U.S. Nationals in 1985, followed by victory at the inaugural U17 World Championships in 1986.
The twins exerted an iron grip on the World Championships, with one of them triumphing in every event from 1989 to 1999. Tawn missed the podium only once during this ten-year period, winning four gold medals in 1989, 1991, 1995, and 1999, along with a runner-up finish to Britt in 1997. At the U.S. Masters, the sisters experienced defeat just once from 1989 to 2000, with Tawn securing victory seven times—more Masters’ trick titles than any other woman. Additionally, she claimed eight U.S. Open titles, won multiple stops on the Budweiser Water Ski Tour, and dominated on the Women of Waterskiing Tour in the late 1990s.
Among her remarkable feats, Tawn’s tenure as the world record holder stands out. She held the record for an astonishing 18 years, which remains the longest streak in the sport’s history. She broke the record four times between 1988 and 1999, solidifying her status as a trailblazer in women’s trick skiing.
Honorable Mentions:
Neilly Ross
Unbeaten throughout 2017, she secured titles at the Moomba Masters, U.S. Masters, and the U17 and Open World Championships. She holds the distinction of being a two-time U.S. and Moomba Masters champion, and is one of only three women to achieve over 11,000 points in trick skiing.
A victim of the most competitive field in the sport’s history, Neilly only narrowly misses the top 10. However, at just 22 years old, we anticipate her ascending the ranks as her career advances.
Whitney McClintock Rini
In 2009, she clinched victories in slalom, tricks, and overall at both the U21 and Open World Championships. Additionally, Whitney secured three consecutive U.S. Masters trick titles from 2009 to 2011.
Karen Bowkett Neville
Best known for her achievements in the overall event, trick skiing stood out as Karen’s strongest discipline. She earned a runner-up position in the tricks category at the 1985 World Championships and dominated the Moomba Masters throughout the 1980s, accumulating numerous trick titles.
Marina Doria & Dany Duflot-Privat
These Europeans are both two-time world champions, dominating the sport in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Independent perspectives on tournament water skiing
