There are few places in water skiing where history feels as alive as it does at Sunset Lakes.
What started as an orange grove more than 50 years ago has become one of the sport’s most iconic destinations. Built by the vision and work ethic of the Travers family, it’s a place where world champions are made, lifelong friendships begin, and generations of skiers discover what this sport is all about.
For Jon Travers, that legacy isn’t something he simply inherits. It’s something he earns.
Growing up at Sunset Lakes, skiing was always part of life. So were the early mornings, long days, and countless hours of work required to keep a world-class ski site running. Today, as a father, competitor, and the next generation of the Travers Ski School, Jon is stepping into a much bigger role. That means far more than chasing personal bests.
He’s learning to build and maintain ski courses, oversee tournaments, master technical control, and help create the kind of experience that skiers from around the world have come to expect at Sunset Lakes. It’s the work most people never see, but without it, the sport simply doesn’t happen.
The best tournaments feel effortless. The water is perfect. The course is straight. Everything runs on time. None of it happens by accident.
Behind every great event are people willing to do the unseen work, solving problems before anyone notices and creating an environment where athletes can perform at their best. Jon is learning that side of the sport while continuing to chase his own dream of becoming one of the world’s best slalom skiers. Balancing competition, family, fatherhood, and the responsibility of carrying forward a name that means so much in water skiing isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what makes his story compelling.
A legacy isn’t preserved by standing still.
It’s built one day, one tournament, one skier, and one generation at a time.
That’s where the Soul of Skiing lives. Not only in the passes we remember, but in the people who quietly dedicate their lives to making those moments possible.
And at Sunset Lakes, that story is still being written.
There are moments in life that only make sense when you look backward
The year was 1987.
The world had 2.7 billion fewer people. The Giants beat John Elway in the Super Bowl. Richard Branson crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. Freddy Krueger was terrorizing movie theaters….and apparently water ski tournaments on the weekend. And somewhere in the middle of all that noise and cultural chaos, Bob LaPoint was quietly doing what he had already been doing for years: redefining the sport of water skiing.
By 1987, Bob LaPoint was already more than a champion. He was becoming something far more rare.
A craftsman
That same year, LaPoint captured his fifth World Slalom Title at Thorpe Park in London, continuing a career that had already reshaped what was possible on a slalom ski. But statistics never fully explain Bob LaPoint. Plenty of athletes win tournaments. Very few leave fingerprints on the soul of a sport.
Born in Castro Valley, California, LaPoint emerged during one of the most transformational period in water skiing history. Alongside his brother Kris, they helped push skiing away from the old world and into the modern era. The LaPoint brothers skied with a level of efficiency, speed, and technical precision that forced the entire sport to evolve around them.
But what makes Bob truly unique is that he never stopped searching.
Long after the trophies were collected and the headlines faded, LaPoint stayed in the workshop. He stayed curious. For more than 50 years he has studied the relationship between ski shape, water flow, balance, speed, and feel with the obsession of an artist refining his life’s work.
That pursuit continues today through Syndicate Works.
Even now, Bob remains an integral part of the Syndicate Works program, collaborating with skiers and designers in the ongoing search for cleaner, simpler, more efficient ski shapes. In a world increasingly driven by noise, Bob still believes in refinement and simplicity. Remove what does not matter. Keep what does. Let the ski disappear beneath the skier: It is a philosophy that sounds simple until you realize how difficult simplicity actually is.
That is what “The Craftsman” is really about.
Not just the titles. Not just the legacy. Not just the skis or the industry.
It is about a man who dedicated his life to understanding something most people will never even notice: the invisible relationship between water, speed, feel and soul.
Because that is how a sport survives – one skier leads the way and inspires countless others. One Shorline becomes another. One kid staring at the impossible eventually grows up and becomes the impossible thing somebody else looks up to.
And somewhere along the way, Bob LaPoint became more than one of the greatest skiers of all time. He quietly shaped not only skis, but generations.
He became one of the great caretakers of the sport itself.
This isn’t a story about a Legend. Its a story about what happens when mastery becomes stewardship. When a life spent shaping fiberglass and bondo somehow ends up shaping people too. The truth is, if you do something long enough, thoughtfully enough, passionately enough… your fingerprints remain on things long after your hands leave them…
Check out the official one hour highlights episode of finals day from the 65th Nautique Moomba Masters International Invitational presented by GM Marine soon to broadcast on Foxtel and Sky TV New Zealand in the coming weeks
Few names carry the kind of respect Freddy Krueger does.
In 2026, his impact on the sport is formally recognized with induction into the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. A career built on talent, consistency, and lasting influence, Freddy helped shape waterskiing through both performance and presence.
This honor reflects more than accomplishments. It recognizes the standard he set and the legacy he leaves for future generations of skiers.
What is greatness? For Karen Truelove, the answer spans a lifetime of excellence, leadership, resilience, and service to the sport of waterskiing. From victories on the world’s biggest stages to decades of giving back behind the scenes, her impact reaches far beyond the podium.
At the 2026 USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Foundation Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Karen is honored with the Award of Distinction for a legacy that continues to shape the future of the sport.
They call it Nationals. But if you spent any time lakeside at Imperial Lakes from October 16–18, you quickly realized it was less like a championship and more like the Super Bowl of spray.
College water skiing’s annual pilgrimage landed in the Imperial Valley this year, where the desert sun showed up early, the playlists showed up loud, and the athletes showed up with exactly the right mix of swagger, caffeine, and mild academic neglect.
For three days, Imperial Lakes turned into the Coachella of collegiate water skiing.
The difference being that instead of guitars and flower crowns, the headliners carried skis, wore life jackets, and measured their success in buoys, flips, and the occasional airborne existential crisis off a jump ramp.
And the crowd?
Imagine a student section that runs on Red Bull, cowbells, and the belief that yelling louder will somehow score points for their teammate.
It usually doesn’t.
But they yell anyway.
Teams rolled into El Centro like a traveling circus with better abs.
Vans full of skis, ropes, duffel bags, and the kind of optimism that only exists when you’re 21 and convinced you can set a PB with a hangover, before breakfast.
The heavy hitters were there. UL Monroe & Lafayette, Alabama, Rollins, Florida Southern.
The usual suspects who treat Collegiate Nationals like their own family reunion, except the reunion involves 36 mph boat speeds and the occasional spectacular crash.
And then there were the dark horses.
West Coast teams who looked around the shoreline and thought, “You know what? Maybe this is the year we ruin someone’s dynasty.” College sports thrive on that kind of dangerous optimism.
Slalom is water skiing’s version of chess, except the pieces move at 36 miles per hour and the board occasionally punches you in the ribs.
From the shoreline, it looks simple. Six buoys. One boat. One rope. From the ski, it feels like you’re trying to play Flip Cup while riding a roller coaster.
The best skiers made it look easy.
Engineering majors running shortline passes like it was a study break. Pre-med students running the course for the first time with the calm precision of someone who knows they’ll be dissecting a frog on Monday morning.
Then came tricks, the event where the laws of physics briefly step outside and let college students do whatever they want.
Spin this way. Flip that way. Land sideways. Somehow keep the ski under your feet.
Judges nodded thoughtfully and wrote down numbers. The crowd cheered like someone had just dunked from the free throw line.
Jump is the moment when the entire shoreline goes quiet.
Not because they’re calm. Because everyone is thinking the same thing. “Surely no human needs to go that far.”
But the skier disagrees. They cut for the ramp, as late as the worst student on the first day of class, with the determination of someone who has already decided that gravity is more of a suggestion than a rule.
The boat roars. The spray explodes. The ramp appears.
When they land, the shoreline erupts. And the next jumper quietly starts calculating whether they can go even farther….or if they are willing to die trying.
College logic is undefeated.
Of course, Collegiate Nationals isn’t just about skiing. It’s about college teams being college teams.
Between events the shoreline looked like a cross between a tailgate and a team meeting that got slightly out of hand.
Face paint appeared. Cowbells multiplied. Someone brought a megaphone that probably should have stayed at home.
Because that’s the strange magic of collegiate water skiing. One minute you’re trying to beat someone. The next minute you’re helping them carry their jumpers back to the dock.
By the time the final jumper finished on Saturday evening, the desert sun was settling behind the mountains and the shoreline looked like the aftermath of a three-day master class in equal parts athletic brilliance and college-level enthusiasm. AKA, it looked like a weekend that had gone exactly as planned.
There were champions, of course. Records, maybe. A few performances that will grow taller every time they’re told, a few egos lightly bruised, and more stories than anyone would ever admit to their parents.
But mostly there was the thing that makes collegiate water skiing special. A bunch of students who will ski all day, cheer all night, and somehow still show up to class on Monday pretending they spent the weekend studying.
They didn’t. They were in California, at Imperial Lakes, making memories…. Running buoys. Landing tricks. Flying off ramps. And for three days in October, they turned some quiet lakes in the desert into the loudest, wildest show on water.
Not bad for a sport most people think only happens once a year, behind a rental boat and a cooler full of questionable decisions.
So who’s coming back to Cali for 2026 Nationals? October in Sacramento. Pack your stoke and leave your worries at home.
Patricio Font landed a wake-nine-back in training in Chile this week—an exceptionally rare trick worth 850 points—captured during an informal session he summed up simply: “NINE at camp with the boys”.
Font is part of a stacked winter training group in Chile alongside Joel Poland, Edoardo Marenzi, Tim Wild, Tristan Duplan-Fribourg, and reigning world champion Matías Gonzalez, with former Masters champion Martin Labra also on hand during his injury comeback. Quietly dubbed “trick camp,” the sessions are already hinting at meaningful progression—and a sharper competitive edge—heading into the season ahead.
Premiered at the USA-WSWS Awards Banquet on Jan 31, 2026. This is a new award created last year to help push the sport and recognize top performances. It could be a world record, clutch competition moment, or just a trick you landed out on the lake one day. Flyman Skis put up $500 for the winner and the pot was doubled for a split decision.
Congrats to Connor Poggetto with the longest seated adaptive jump of all time for a World Record of 94 feet at the IWWF Adaptive Worlds.
Ethan Shulda is sharing this year’s title with Connor. Ethan landed the world’s first mobe rewind. This is a one-ski wrapped, full twisting back flip with a rewind to backwards landing.
For a grand finale at the USA-WSWS Awards Banquet, this video played to the audience of 225 at Camp Margaritaville in Auburndale, FL on Jan. 31, 2026. The crowd (who were helping judge the clips with their response) was electric.
Much love to all the athletes who pushed the sport ahead and found a new level.
Epic Finish to the WWS Overall Tour — The Travers Cup Did Not Disappoint! The final stop of the 2025 World Water Skiers Overall Tour brought incredible skiing across the board — men and women going all-out for the win, shaking up the Travers Cup podium and final Tour standings for 2025!
Congrats to all the athletes who left everything on the water — true overall champions in every sense.
Follow along with Rob as he travels across Europe and Africa with the team in pursuit of tournament victories, epic sessions, and plenty of good times along the way 🌍🏆
