Canada triumphs at World Water Ski Championships

Canada captured the team title at the World Water Ski Championship during five days of intense competition and high-octane action hosted by Chapala’s Boca Laguna ski club.

The United States placed second in the team scoring, with France taking third.

Regina Jaquess of the United States won the women’s slalom and was also crowned women’s overall champion.

The November 17-21 tournament was marked by international camaraderie, near perfect course conditions, new world championship and personal best records and moments of heart-stopping drama.

Jacinta Carroll of Australia won gold in the women’s jump.

Canada’s team captain Steve Bush was delighted with the outstanding performance of his athletes, as well as all other aspects of the event.

“Everything has been absolutely first class,” he told the Reporter, raving about the first-rate design of Boca Laguna’s man-made lake, the warm hospitality of club owner Carlos Lamadrid and the local community as a whole, lakeside’s excellent hotel and restaurant services and the fantastic fall climate.

Adam Pickos (right) of the United States won gold in men’s tricks and stand out as the second member of his family to become world champion in the discipline. His dad, Cory Pickos (left), was among five all-stars who were inducted in the International Water Ski Hall of Fame earlier in the week.

Athletes from 30 countries competed for honors. The program kicked off November 16 with an after-dark flag parade and opening ceremony at the Chapala waterfront and closed November 2 with a gala awards banquet at the Hotel Real in La Floresta.

Regina Jaquess of the United States was crowned Women’s Overall champion, with Whitney McClintock from Canada placing second.

Adam Sedlmajer and Martin Kolman of the Czech Republic placed first and second in the Men’s Overall event, with Jaret Llewellyn of Canada in third despite sustaining a serious injuries on the last day of competition.

Llewellyn, a 45-year- old veteran considered a legend in the sport, took a horrific dive as he sailed off the ramp in his first run for Sunday’s men’s jump final, flipping in the air before crashing into the water with such force that he ended up in a Guadalajara hospital for surgery to repair a broken femur and treatment for hip and knee dislocations.

The jumping events elicited plenty of oohs and aaahs from the crowds attending the World Water Ski Championships at Boca Laguna. The discipline is fraught with potential dangers, and one unfortunate Canadian competitor ended up in a Guadalajara hospital after taking a horrific dive.

World junior jump champion Ryan Dodd of Canada moved up in the ranks as the male gold medal jumper, while Jacinta Carroll of Australia nabbed gold in the women’s jump with a world championship record leap of 57.9 meters.

Regina Jaquess and Whitney McClintock won gold and silver in the women’s slalom, while Nate Smith of the United States was the victor in the men’s event.

Among the up-and-coming stars emerging from the contest was 15-year-old Anna Gay (United States) who won the gold medal in women’s tricks while setting a new record in the category with a score of 10,010 points. Canadian Neilly Ross, aged 14, came a close second for silver, while Natallia Berdnikava of Belarus earned the bronze.

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