Water skiing has been adapted so that physically disabled athletes can participate and compete. Tournaments offer slalom, tricks and jumping events for vision impaired individuals (blind or partially sighted), multiplegics (paraplegics and quadriplegics), leg amputees (above and below knee), arm amputees and athletes with both arm and leg disabilities. The skiers in the latter three categories compete with the same water ski equipment used by able-bodied athletes and have the option of using a prosthesis.
Vision impaired athletes do not require special equipment. However, they are guided by another skier in the jumping event, although they must be released before they go over the ramp and use audible signals instead of buoys in the slalom course. Multiplegic athletes use a sit ski, which is larger than the ski of an able-bodied skier and includes a cage similar to that used in snow skiing. A narrower slalom course than that set out for able-bodied competitors is an option for those whose disability is greater such as quadriplegics and athletes with both arm and leg disabilities.
1987 - The first World Trophy, a non-record event, took place outside London in England with officials from the European, African, Middle Eastern (EAME) Region and one from the Pan Am Region. There were 40 participants from 7 countries. Great Britain won the team title ahead of the USA & Australia.
1989 - The Second World Trophy, a national record capability event, took place outside Perth, Australia with officials from the Asia-Australasian Region and one each from the Pan Am and EAME Regions. There were 55 participants from 9 countries. Great Britain won the team title ahead of the USA & Australia.
1991 - The Third and final World Trophy, a world record capability event, took place in Michigan, in the USA with at least two officials from each Region. There were 65 participants from 12 countries. Great Britain won the team title ahead of the USA & Australia.
1993 - The first-ever World Championships, a world record capability event, were held in Roquebrune, France with at least three officials from each Region as per the new rules. There were a record 84 participants from 15 countries. The USA won the team title ahead of Great Britain and Australia.
1995 - The second World Championships were held in Mulwala, Australia with 56 athletes from 12 countries. Nineteen world records were set. The USA won the team title ahead of Great Britain and Australia.
1997 - The third World Championships were held in Florida in the USA with 66 athletes from a record 16 countries. Sixteen world records were set and one equaled. Great Britain won the team title ahead of the USA & Australia.
1999 - The fourth World Championships were held outside London, at the site of the first World Trophy. There were 75 athletes from 15 countries. Eleven world records were set. The USA won the team title ahead of Great Britain and Australia.
2001 - The fifth World Championships were held near Melbourne, Australia. There were 57 athletes from 15 countries, the best attendance to date both in athlete and country numbers in the AA Region. Eight world records were set. Great Britain won the team title ahead of the USA and Australia.
2003 - The sixth World Championships, and the sport’s tenth anniversary, took place in Florida, USA. There were 68 athletes from 15 countries. Eight world records were set and one tied. USA won the team title ahead of Great Britain and Italy.
2005 - The seventh World Championships were held in Schoten, Belgium, in September with 60 athletes from 17 countries, the latter a record with two new ones participating, Brazil and South Africa. There were ten world records, and the team title was won by Great Britain, ahead of the USA and Australia.
2007 - The eighth World Championships took place in Townsville, Australia in May with 52 athletes from 15 countries, the number of countries tying an AA record for attendance. Eight world records were set; and Great Britain won the team title again, ahead of Australia, second for the first time ever, and the USA. The USA and Great Britain have now each won four World titles.
2009 - The location and dates of the ninth World Championships have yet to be determined.
1986 - In Norway, the original commission of three persons was formed.
1987 - At the time of the first Trophy, there was one member from each Region, all disabled, and a president, Peter Felix. It was a commission, reflecting a lack of participating countries, hence a world trophy instead of a world championships.
1989 - At the second Trophy, an additional member was chosen to the commission from each Region, all able-bodied.
1991 - After the IWSF Executive Board encouraged the disabled commission to move towards council status (the status of all other major sports disciplines such as tournament, barefoot and racing), a third member was selected to the commission from each Region, and in some cases an alternate.
1992 - The IWSF Executive Board approved council status for the disabled in July, due to an increase in participating countries, established rules, etc. The Disabled Council is now on equal footing with tournament, barefoot & racing.
Chairman: Jim Grew, USA (93)
Confederation Pan Am (North America and Latin America)
Bill Bowness, USA (86) - President
Jim Grew, USA (89)
Chris Bourne, CAN (05)
Confederation EAME (Europe, Africa, Middle East)
Philippe Turchet, FRA (06) - President
Christophe Fasel, SUI (96)
Alan Murray, SCO (02)
Carmen Ferrer, SPA (02) - Alternate
Confederation Asia-Australasia (Oceania and Asia)
Kevin Murfitt, AUS (94) - President
Bushy Brown, AUS (00)
Jamie McDonald, AUS (00)
Technical Committee: Chair, Jim Grew (96)
Classification Committee: Chair, Lill Fitzpatrick (93)
IWSF Web Site Liaison: Paul Goosens (07) & Philippe Turchet, FRA (00)
Seven of the nine Council members are elite athletes, all of whom competed in the 2005 Worlds with five of them participating in the 2007 edition.
In 1989, each Region had its own set of IWSF World Rules for the Disabled. By 1991, one set of rules, keyed to the IWSF able-bodied rules, had been approved. A more sophisticated set was finalized, including all the necessary appendices, and keyed specifically, rule by rule, to the IWSF rules in 1992. 1994 witnessed the addition of a tournament handbook which by 2001 contained sections on classification, interpretations, and records (record standards and a complete record series).
The first world records were set at the 1991 World Trophy with the proviso that there were at least 4 contestants in the event. Performances from the 1989 Trophy that qualified under this stipulation, and were not exceeded at the 1991 event, were also grandfathered in as records. All others were tracked as world tournament bests. With the 1993 Worlds, records could be set in all categories because minimum standards had been established. 1995 witnessed the tracking of regional records for the first time.
The original categories were as follows: Arm amputees (A); Leg Amputees (L & LP); Multiple Plegics -Paraplegics & Quadriplegics – (MP1, MP2 & MP3); Blind & Vision Impaired (V1, V2 & V3); Deaf; Les Autres (the others)
- The Leg Amputee category was divided into two (with and without prosthesis) after the 1989 Trophy.
- The Multiple Plegics category was divided into three after the 1991 Trophy according to a classification system performed at each worlds. The women were recombined at the World Tournament in 1995 because of a lack of participation and were separated again in 2000.
- The Vision Impaired category was divided into two according to the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) classification system, which necessitates passports indicating status. In 1994, it was combined back into one again. 1998 saw the IWSF Disabled Classification Committee take over the task of classifying its athletes using the IBSA like parameters.
- The category for Deaf was eliminated after the 1989 Trophy.
- Les Autres, a catch-all category for those who do not fit into the current framework, became demonstration in 1990.
- The IWSF Disabled movement was determined to be for the physically disabled only in 1989.
- A new category was trialed in the 1999 Worlds called A/L for those with significant arm and leg impairment, arm and leg amputation, and hemiplegia. This category would also include skiers with cerebral palsy and other disabilities/conditions that are able to ski upright for slalom. It received a second trial in 2001 and was added as an official category after that event and for the 2003 worlds, for men only. After the 2003 Worlds, this category was expanded to include women.
- Also trialed was a new slalom event for the vision impaired called audio slalom, which better simulates able-bodied slalom. It replaced wake slalom in 2001.
