Noah Kinnaman won the gold medal in elite men’s tricks, and swept gold medals in junior boys’ slalom, tricks and jump at the 2024 IWWF Barefoot Water Ski World Championships.
U.S. Teams, Athletes Earn Medals At IWWF Barefoot Water Ski World Championships
by Scott N. Atkinson
The U.S. Junior Barefoot Water Ski Team won the overall team gold medal and the U.S. Elite Barefoot Water Ski Team earned the overall team silver medal at the 2024 IWWF Barefoot Water Ski World Championships, Oct. 6-8, at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, Fla. For the ninth consecutive time, the biennial Elite (Open) Barefoot Water Ski World Championships was held simultaneously with the biennial Junior Barefoot Water Ski World Championships. In addition, for the second time, U23 athletes competed for individual titles only. The originally scheduled eight-day event (Oct. 5-12), which was shortened to three days due the impact of Hurricane Milton in the area, featured more than 100 athletes from nine countries. The Elite Barefoot Worlds took place for the 23rd time, while the Junior Barefoot Worlds was held for the 15th time. Tournament officials were able to complete all first rounds and some second round/semifinals.
Athletes competed for medals in slalom, tricks, jumping and overall, in addition to the coveted team titles. Team standings were determined by all completed rounds and individual event winners were declared from the last completed round in each event. The wake slalom event consisted of athletes crossing the boat wake as many times as possible in two 15-second passes. Tricks competitors performed as many tricks as possible in two 15-second passes. Jumpers, who were each allowed three attempts, went for distance while leaping off an 18-inch ramp.
The U.S. Elite Barefoot Water Ski Team tallied 7,817.87 points in earning the silver medal. Australia won the gold (8,113.63 points) and New Zealand earned the bronze (6,173.66 points) in the nine-team field. Members of the U.S. Elite Barefoot Water Ski Team were Carter Boerman (Paddock Lake, Wis.), Michael Caruso (Delray Beach, Fla.), Orval Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.), Faith Dix (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), Noah Kinnaman (Lake St. Louis, Mo.), Jason Lee (Winter Haven, Fla.), Broderick Meskers (Chetek, Wis.) and Brett Swanbom (Groveland, Fla.). Kinnaman won the gold medal in men’s tricks (11,300 points); Dix earned the bronze in women’s slalom (12.40 points); Meskers earned the silver (tie) in men’s tricks (8,180 points) and the bronze in overall (2,584.97 points); and Swanbom earned the bronze in men’s jump (82 feet).
U.S. independent Megan Adams (Center City, Minn.) earned the silver in women’s jump (36 feet) and Amara Bruns (Sioux Falls, S.D.) earned the silver in women’s tricks (2,400 points).
The U.S. Junior Barefoot Water Ski Team tallied 5,655.30 points in winning the gold medal. Australia earned the silver (4,788.18 points) and Italy earned the bronze (1,675.36 points) in the six-team field. Members of the U.S. Junior Barefoot Water Ski Team were Amara Bruns (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Orval Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.), Brooke Gunderson (Winter Haven, Fla.), and Noah Kinnaman (Lake St. Louis, Mo.). Bruns won the gold in girls’ tricks (2,360 points) and earned the silver in slalom (9.00 points) and overall (2,580.36 points), and the bronze in jump (30 feet); Gunderson earned the silver in girls’ jump (31 feet) and the bronze in slalom (9.00 points) and overall (1,809.18 points); Kinnaman swept gold medals in boys’ slalom (16.50 points), tricks (10,150 points), jump (74 feet) and overall (3,000.0 points); and Orval Cyr earned the silver in boys’ tricks (7,250 points) and overall (2,092.68 points), and the bronze in jump (51 feet).
U.S. independent Owen Schattschneider (Janesville, Wis.) earned the bronze in boys’ slalom (12.80 points) and Martin Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.) earned the silver in boys’ tricks (3,700 points).
Athletes also competed for the second time for individual medals in a U23 division. Adams won the gold in women’s jump (34 feet) and earned the silver in tricks (2,480 points) and the bronze in slalom (8.80 points); Dix won gold medals in women’s slalom (12.80 points), tricks (2,840 points) and overall (2,825.24 points), and the silver in jump (28 feet); Swanbom won the gold in men’s slalom (16.40 points), tricks (5,000 points) and overall (2,893.16 points); and Boerman earned the bronze in men’s slalom (15.60 points) and tricks (2,400 points).
Other gold medalists from the Elite Worlds were Australia’s Fletcher Ball (men’s slalom), Australia’s Keenan Derry (men’s jump), New Zealand’s Ben Groen (men’s overall), and Australia’s Ashleigh Stebbeings (women’s slalom, tricks, jump and overall). The other gold medalist from the Junior Worlds was Australia’s Elle Keene (girls’ slalom, jump and overall). The other gold medalist from the U23 Worlds was Australia’s Harry Hogan (men’s jump).
Landen Ehlers (Austin, Texas) was the coach of the U.S. Junior team. Dale Stevens (West Palm Beach, Fla.) served as the coach of the U.S. Elite team. Andrew Martin (Larkspur, Calif.) was the team manager and Jerry Kanawyer (Brentwood, Calif.) served as assistant team manager. Blake Ehlers (Austin, Texas) was the independent coach for the Elite, Junior and Under 23 competitors, with Sandy Boerman (Bristol, Wis.) serving as the independent manager.