16th August 2018
Dream Lake, Ontario, Canada
After a night of torrential rain, the sun shines on some new champions at the 2018 IWWF World Barefoot Water Ski Championships. The first medal rounds for Senior and Junior Wake Slalom and Jump were completed on Thursday.
In Senior Men’s Slalom, Brett Sands of Australia brought home the Gold with an 18.6, followed by Americans Jason Lee with Silver and Chris McWatters Bronze.
In Senior Women’s Slalom Rachel Normand of the USA won Gold with a 13.5 followed by Germans Steffi Kirsch with Silver and Svenja Hempelmann with the Bronze.
Junior Girls Slalom was dominated by the USA with Lexi McCauley winning Gold with a 14.2 and Alex Youngblood the Silver Medal with a 14. Elaina McClung of Australia took home the Bronze.
It was a surprise ending in Junior Boys Slalom when top-seated Jackson Gerard fell… making way for US Teammate Brice Storman to grab the gold with 17 points. Australia’s Tee-Jay Russo won the silver and Gerard had to settle for Bronze.
In Senior Women’s Jump, Rachel Normand won her second gold with a jump of 11.4 meters followed by Germans Steffi Kirsch with Silver and Svenja Hempelmann with the Bronze.
Senior Men’s Jump went down to the very last jump, with American Jason Lee winning the Gold with a jump of 23.5 meters. New Zealand’s Bevan Kelly was close behind with a 23.2 meter jump and Jim Nyberg picked up the bronze… a first ever medal win for Sweden at a Barefoot Worlds.
In Junior Girls Jump, the USA swept the podium with Alex Youngblood winning Gold, Lexi McCauley Silver and Ryleigh Stenson Bronze.
In Junior Boys Jump, Australia’s Tee-Jay Russo landed a massive 25.6 meter jump to bring home the gold. Jackson Gerard of the USA won silver and William Leigh of New Zealand, the Bronze.
Final rounds continue Friday. For complete results and a livestream of the IWWF Barefoot Worlds go here.
Official Hashtags:
#2018barefootworlds
#iwwf
Social Media & Other Important Links:
IWWF’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwwfed/
IWWF’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IWWFED
Event Information
Event Schedule, Starting Orders & Results
List of Participants
About the IWWF: The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the world governing body for towed watersports and has 91 affiliated Federations worldwide. It was founded in 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole authority for towed watersports. The IWWF is an affiliate member of the Association of IOC Recognized International Sports Federation (ARISF) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The IWWF’s sports disciplines include, amongst others, Tournament Waterskiing (slalom, tricks & jump), Wakeboard, Cable Wakeboard, Cable Waterskiing, Disabled Waterskiing, Show Skiing, Ski Racing and Barefoot Waterskiing