The image below came to my email account and contains all the details you’ll need to know about the upcoming figure-8 barefoot tournament at Long Lake, MN.
Category: talesfromthefoot.com
All of the old posts from my old website talesfromthefoot.com.
Ed McMahon?
This video has been slowly circulating through the interwebs (curious about what the interwebs are, check out the CRB for furth explanations.) Anywho, one of the first things that jumps out you in this video is the voice of Ed McMahon and he’s announcing a TV segment about barefooting.
He makes a big deal about the skiers at Cypress Gardens trying to stay dry, but the despite hat odd bit of announcing, the story features some classic footage of some old school barefooting. No barefoot suits, no padded shorts, nothing but a swim trunks and a yellowish life vest. The vid features Jerry Atkinson barefooting in less than most people would consider doing it today. What made me laugh is the footage of the “tumble turn”. It was anything but clean, kinda looked like me trying one, but the difference waws he made it back around. Me, not so much.
Enjoy the footing, the steller music and the voice of Ed McMahon.
US Barefoot Nationals… New Place, New Dates
I just saw this on USA Water Ski. The US Barefoot Nationals are now being held at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kansas and are taking place a week later, now from August 11 thru 15. Here’s the official announcement from USA Water Ski:
Dates & Venue Changed For ABC Nationals
Due to severe drought conditions in central Texas, the American Barefoot Club (ABC) has announced a change in the dates and location of the 2009 Barefoot Water Ski National Championships. Originally scheduled for Aug. 4-8 at the Barefoot Ski Ranch in Waco, Texas, the 32nd annual event will now be held Aug. 11-15 (to accommodate the local organizing committee) at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kan.
“This is relatively short notice for a local organizing committee to get ramped up for a national championships, however, the American Barefoot Club is confident with the commitments we have for support, both physical and financial, that the local organizing committee will pull together a first-class event,” said Dan Cummings, president of the American Barefoot Club.
Mystic Lakes is a two-lake site built in what was formerly a sand pit just outside Wichita, Kan. It was built into a water ski community with houses surrounding the lake. Mystic Lakes has hosted the Midwest Regional Water Ski Championships with more than 300 competitors, so it is no stranger to the logistics of putting together a large tournament.
“There are sidewalks around the lake, it has very high banks for wind protection, and a center strand between the two lakes provides for perfect spectator viewing,” Cummings said. “We will be able to jump on one lake and run slalom and tricks on the other lake. While this is certainly a change from the previously announced Waco site, I am confident it will be a great tournament and one that you will not want to miss. Mystic Lakes has hosted our Regional Barefoot Championships on multiple occasions as well as regular local tournaments.”
More than 100 athletes are expected to compete for national titles in wake slalom, tricks, jumping and overall in respective divisions.
The American Barefoot Club is one of nine sport disciplines of USA Water Ski.
This is especially good news for the many barefooteres that are also show skiers. Prior to the announcement, Show and Barefoot Nationals were on the same weekend.
Update:
I recieved this in an email from the ABC President:
Barefooters,
Due to the draught we currently experiencing in Central Texas and the lack of water to make the site ski-able, this year’s Barefoot Nationals is being moved to Mystic Lakes in Wichita, Kansas.To accommodate the LOC and Homeowners association, the dates are also being moved toAugust 11-15. The date move will also resolve the conflict we had with Show Ski Nationals, which is good since most of our World Junior Team are also show skiers.
This is relatively short notice for an LOC to get ramped up. However, we are confident, with the commitments we have for support, both physical and financial, the LOC will pull together a first class event. Mystic Lakes is a two lake site built in what was formerly a sand pit just outside Wichita in Maize, KS. It was built into a water ski community with houses surrounding the lake. Mystic Lakes recently hosted 3 event regionals with over 300 skiers. So they are no strangers to the logistics of putting together a large tournament. Wichita is centrally located in the US and is serviced by an international airport.
There are sidewalks around the lake, it has very high banks for wind protection, a center strand between the two lakes for perfect spectator viewing. We will be able to jump on the second lake and run slalom and tricks on the other. They have hosted our Regional Barefoot Championships on multiple occasions as well as regular local tournaments.
While this is certainly a change from the previously announced Waco site, I am confident it will be a great tournament and one you will not want to miss. Waco is lining up to host next years Nationals, so we will get to experience that great site as well. We wanted to get the word out so everyone has as much notice as possible to make plans. See you in Wichita!
Dan Cummings
President, American Barefoot Club
She’s a Believer…
…and all of us over the age of 12 are now officially depressed. Who are we talking about and why? We are talking of one Georgia Groen, age 12, of the New Zealand Barefoot Team. At the wee age of 12, she’s already competing internationally. She just took part in Junior Worlds and her trick run was good enough to place 6th in tricks. She was also just named the BFC Footer of the Month for February 2009
Now you might be wondering why that makes us over the age of 12 depressed? Well, just take a look at the BFC video that they released showing her barefoot tricks. She’s already jumping out of boats and doing side slides. Enough with build up now and on to the video…
You can find the video on Barefoot Central’s video page here. It’s called “I’m a Believer”.
Ski-A-Rees Benefit Show for Ryan Bergeron
Here is some info about an upcoming benefit show for Ryan Bergeron that the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees are doing. Ryan was injured while barefooting during a professional ski show. Here are all the details…
Some of you know that Ryan Bergeron, who has skied with the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees Water Ski Show Team, in Sarasota, FL, since 1999 was injured barefooting last year while performing in Brazil and is currently without the use of his legs. Ryan’s recovery is going well and he recently returned to the water, performing in our Sunday shows. As you can imagine, Ryan’s medical bills are staggering.
To help Ryan, March 22, 2009 will be “Ryan Bergeron” day at Ski-A-Rees Stadium, with all proceeds from the Sunday 2:00 show going to the Ryan Bergeron Medical Fund.
We invite all show skiers, especially those in the Southern Region or visiting our area on Spring Break, to join with us for the entire weekend, including practice on Saturday and an all-day party and 2:00 public show on Sunday. We plan to heavily publicize this show and would love to have commitments from other skiers to report to the media.
Our show director, Sherri Brunner, needs to know as soon as possible how skiers plan to participate. Please send her an email at benefit@skiarees.com.
If you’re unable to ski, but would still like to help Ryan, please consider sending a donation to:
Ryan M Bergeron Medical Account
c/o Sarasota Ski-A-Rees
P.O. Box 1493
Sarasota , FL 34230
For more information, please contact us a http://www.skiarees.com/ryan
Also here is a link to a video aired on TV done on Ryan. http://usfmasscomm.blip.tv/file/1713685/
Brad Satterlee
Event Coordinator
Best Dam Barefoot Race is on for 2009!
The Best Dam Barefoot Race is on! I spoke with T-Bell, the race organizer tonight, and she confirmed that the race will occur this year. They decided to push the race date back one week so it will be the Saturday after Mother’s Day weekend (May 16th). The water should be ever so slightly warmer and we’ll no longer need to deal with being “exhausted” on Mother’s Day. Be sure to check back here for more details. I’ll have them as soon as they are announced.
Start training now for the 22 miles of fun pain torture racing excitement. Get your team’s together now!
Eau Claire Goes Fearless
A group of footers from around the world gathered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin this past summer to some serous footers. The list of footer includes the De Villiers, Chris Morrison, and Keith St. Onge. In addition to the names you’d know, the video also features Brady Guth, Kyle Erickson and Luke Dallagrana.
Enjoy…
Blue Moo Chick Fest Is Online
The Cowz R Us Ski Team, based at The Blue Moo (near Alma Center, WI) has posted their event calender for the year. They are kicking off the ski season with a Beach Party on May 30 (which is a Lions Club Fundraiser ). Their next major event is the Wisconsin/Illinois Open on June 26- 28. Following that is the Blue Moo Chick Fest on July 11th. They’ve launched a completely new website for that event and you can find it online at www.barefootchickfest.com. The Blue Moo event calander comes to a close with the Midwest Regionals July 24 – July 26.
You can view their event calender on their site or you can view the event calendar here. I’ve added all of their event and many others for 2009.
Be sure to check out their video section. They put together a nice video of the footing from the 2008 Beach Party titled Hellar 2008.
SacFooter’s Cross Slough
Here’s another video from SacFooter on YouTube. Looking at the water conditions these guys ski on is pure torture. It’s sooo glassy it’s boarderline ridulous. But anyways…
The video has some pretty good footing it and at roughly the 1:35 mark, there is even a nice little crash sequence.
Back 40 Productions
And now for a video that isn’t related to the cold… it just shows 4 friends out having a blast on their little slice of heaven. They do a bit more than barefooting, but it is very evident that they love to spend a whole lot of time on the water. Enjoy this little distraction from the winter doldrums…
Mad-City Wedge 