Q: What is USA Water Ski?
A: USA Water Ski is the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is a member of the International Water Ski Federation (world governing body), the Pan American Sports Organization and the United States Olympic Committee. Affiliated with USA Water Ski as sport disciplines are the American Water Ski Association (AWSA), American Barefoot Club (ABC), American Kneeboard Association (AKA), National Collegiate Water Ski Association (NCWSA), National Show Ski Association (NSSA), National Water Ski Racing Association (NWSRA), United States Hydrofoil Association (USHA), USA Wakeboard (USA-WB) and Water Skiers with Disabilities Association (WSDA).
Q: What is USA Water Ski’s mission?
A: From the beginning, USA Water Ski has had a dual mission of promoting the growth and development of recreational water skiing, and organizing and governing the sport of competitive water skiing. The largest and most active water ski federation in the world, USA Water Ski has a paid staff of 15 persons. Headquartered in Polk City, Fla., the staff serves more than 20,000 members across the country. Nearly 80 percent of USA Water Ski’s members are involved in tournament competition each year; the remaining are recreational water skiers.
Q: What kind of programs does USA Water Ski offer?
A: USA Water Ski programs include: water ski instructor certification; learn to ski clinics; officials’ education; junior skiers’ development; legislative assistance; safety training and information dissemination; membership development, including affiliation of state federations and local water ski clubs; public communications and media information; industry relations; and local, national and international competition ranging from novice to world-level tournaments.
Q: Does USA Water Ski sanction events?
A: As the national governing body for water skiing, USA Water Ski sanctions three-event (traditional water skiing), wakeboarding, barefooting, kneeboarding, collegiate water skiing and wakeboarding, show skiing, water ski racing, hydrofoiling and disabled water skiing tournaments, as well as professional cash-prize events, such as U.S. Open Water Ski Championships.
Q: Is water skiing considered a recreational sport?
A: Throughout its history water skiing has closely paralleled the development of recreational boating in its appeal to the general public. Over the years it has shown almost continuous, sustained growth. Surveys of sports participation show that there are roughly 11 million water skiers in the United States. Water skiing is a family-oriented activity and the participants tend to be well educated and affluent. Three-fourths of adult USA Water Ski members are college graduates and many are career professionals and administrators — physicians, attorneys, psychologists, business owners and top-level administrators, among others. Seventy percent of the Association's members have yearly household incomes of more than $50,000 a year, and 53 percent have incomes of more than $65,000.
Q What about competitive water skiing opportunities?
A: Interest in competitive water skiing has grown considerably over the years and continues to attract many more enthusiasts. USA Water Ski sanctions more than 900 tournaments each season. These range from small, local events for novices to national and world-level tournaments for more experienced competitors. Male and female skiers of all ages can compete in traditional three-event water skiing (slalom, tricks, jumping) tournaments, as well as in tournaments for wakeboarding, barefooting, kneeboarding, show skiing, collegiate water skiing and wakeboarding, water ski racing, hydrofoiling and disabled water skiing.
Q: What are the competitive events in water skiing?
A: The three events of traditional water skiing are slalom, tricks and jumping. In slalom, the contestant negotiates a zigzag course of six buoys. The boat speed is increased two mph until a maximum speed for the division of competition is reached. Thereafter the rope is shortened in pre-measured lengths. The winner is the one who rounds the most buoys without a miss or fall. The best skiers do not miss until the rope is shorter than the distance from the boat to the buoy and the skier must try to round the buoy by leaning over it with his or her body! In tricks, the contestant performs two, 20-second routines of tricks that each have an assigned point value. Some of the most difficult tricks include wake flips, and multiple turns performed with the towrope attached to the contestant’s foot. In jumping, the object is distance. Although there is a maximum boat speed for each age division, the skier can increase his or her speed by “cracking the whip” behind the boat; men jumpers approach speeds of more than 60 mph at the base of the jump ramp. Some men skiers in Open Division competition, the highest achievement level, jump more than 240 feet off a six-foot-high ramp. Women competitors are jumping more than 170 feet using a five-foot-high ramp. Barefoot, kneeboard and disabled athletes perform variations of these same events, except that kneeboard athletes do not jump from a ramp.
Q: Are there international competitions?
A: As a member of the International Water Ski Federation, USA Water Ski and its sport disciplines select teams that compete in several world-level tournaments, notably the Elite, Veteran, Under 21 and Junior Water Ski World Championships; Elite, Senior and Junior Barefoot Water Ski World Championships; Formula 1, Formula 2 and Junior Water Ski Racing World Championships; Wakeboard World Championships; Disabled Water Ski World Championships; Pan American Games; and World Games.
Q: Is there an official publication associated with USA Water Ski?
A: The Water Skier magazine is the official publication of USA Water Ski. The Water Skier is the nation's premier water skiing magazine. Published continuously since 1952, longer than any other publication of its kind, The Water Skier is the source to which water skiers turn for accurate information and knowledge about the sport. The Water Skier comes to members' homes seven times a year with athlete profiles, instructional articles, tournament reports and results, trends in the sport and classified advertisements.
Q: Who invented water skiing?
A: Water skiing was invented in the United States in 1922 when Minnesotan Ralph Samuelson built the first pair of skis and was towed on them behind an outboard-powered boat. What Samuelson originated became an exhibition sport on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1920s and early 1930s. It developed officially into a competitive sport in 1939 when the American Water Ski Association (AWSA) was organized and held the first annual National Water Ski Championships at Jones Beach, Long Island, New York.
Q: How do I become a member of USA Water Ski?
A: Visit www.usawaterski.org/pages/join.html
