Eleven-year-old Logan Harrington of Davidson, N.C., became the youngest competitor to win the Open Division of the Lake Norman New Year’s Day Barefoot Challenge in Sherrill’s Ford, NC.At last year’s tournament, Logan asked the tournament judge for perm...
USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ Annual Awards Banquet, presented by Visit Central Florida, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Fla. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards presentation a...
As a reminder, the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports board of directors approved at its meeting on June 29, 2022, to implement an event sanctioning fee increase for 2025. Beginning with event dates Jan. 1, 2025 and beyond, the following event sanction fees w...
Both the most recognizable and the most influential modern water sports athlete, Parks Bonifay talks his water sports journey from a ski baby to water skiing and, ultimately, wakeboarding, where his legend truly grew. The winner of multiple X Games gol...
Although barefoot slalom, tricks and jumping water ski events are very similar to traditional events, the major difference here is, you guessed it, participants do not wear skis.
In the slalom event, an athlete earns points for crossing the boat wakes in a course that does not have buoys. In tricks, an athlete attempts to perform as many tricks as he can during two 15-second passes. Each trick has a pre-assigned point value and an athlete may perform each trick only once. The athlete who earns the most points wins the event. In the jumping event, the ramp height is only 18 inches (45.5 centimeters), but the boat speed is more than 40 miles per hour, which is feet-burning fast!
Faster boat speeds are required for an athlete to plane on his two bare feet. There are no hand tools needed to make barefoot equipment repairs, only a tube of super glue. If a blister or cut opens on the bottom of an athlete's foot, standard procedure is to glue it shut now to finish skiing and deal with the stitches later.
In addition to slalom, tricks and jumping, barefoot athletes also participate in figure eight competitions and endurance events where the athlete who stays up the longest is the winner.
Barefoot water skiing began in Florida as a recreational activity in the late 1940s and was quickly introduced into the water ski shows at Cypress Gardens, Fla. Interest in barefooting grew, and in 1977 the American Barefoot Club (ABC) became a sport division of USA Water Ski & Wake Sports, the national governing body for the sport of water skiing in the United States. Originally, membership in the ABC was reserved for barefooters who could stay on their feet for a minimum of 60 seconds.
The barefoot craze spread overseas, becoming especially popular among the Australians, who eventually organized the first barefoot tournaments. They were patterned after conventional competition, with an added discipline called "start methods," which has since been discontinued. Today, barefooting is a world-wide sport recognized by the International Water Ski Federation, the world governing body of water skiing. A world championships is held every two years.
In the United States, USA Water Ski & Wake Sports sanctions more than 50 barefoot tournaments each year. The Barefoot Water Ski National Championships, held each August, attracts more than 100 of the nation’s top barefooters who compete for event and overall medals.
