…or a heal, or just fall over.
But one thing is true, the more spectacular the tricks that are being attempted, the more spectacular the falls can be. So here are the likes of KSO, Small, Groen and many others at the WBC showing the world they are indeed human in this video that the WBC put together.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjK7TWaf1yE&w640&h385]
I like the one where the guy backfoots into the weeds.
Just wanted to pass on a few more details about the upcoming World Barefoot Center Figure-8 Barefoot Championship that’ll be taking place in Winter Haven, Florida on Saturday, October 16 on Lake Silver.
The entry fee is $65 with registration starting at 7am, the skiers meeting at 730am and the tournament starting at 8am. The tournament will pay out $1000 for first place, $500 for second and $200 for third.
Typical figure-8 rules that follow the Footstock rule book with the exception of the ropes being on a standard tower. No duct tape or Ultimate Grip Clinchers or Masterline Pro Lock gloves.
Seeing as how it’s at the WBC, you’ll likely be competing against KSO, David Small and the rest of the staff from there.
A party will follow at 7:30pm at the WBC Headquarters located at 3915 Lake Conine Dr. East in Winter Haven and the flyer indicates FREE BEER!!!
Check out the WBC website for more details and contact info. It’s also the final stop on barefoot ski dot com’s Figure-8 Barefoot Series.
Click on the image below to embiggen the flyer…
Update 9/25/2010: The figure-8 tournament will be held on Lake Silver now. My understanding it’s a private lake so there won’t be any weekend warriors to deal with.
In now somewhat old news that has been published everywhere*, Keith St. Onge and Elaine Heller won their respective Open Pro Divisions, both sweeping the titles in slalom (19.7 and 13.4), trick (12,450 and 3060) and jump (84 feet and 61 feet) (respectively).
For more scores, you can check out the full USA Water Ski Press Release and at least for the time being, you can find all of the scores here (via the ABC website).
On a related note, I did get to watch a little bit of the webcast of this event that the World Barefoot Center did. Not the slickest production I’ve seen, but they are aware of that and are working on making it better (when I watched, there was a kid posing in the background). Yes, there were a couple small technical hick-ups, but nothing major. What I did like was the live feed from the boat to show each person’s runs. You could see exactly what the judges could see with a view right from the boat. I was only able to watch for a little bit on Saturday morning and watched a 82 year old and 75 year old do their trick runs. (I hope I’m still able to barefoot at their ages.) Swampy did a good job describing what he was seeing, estimating their scores, describing why somethings counted and why some didn’t. I give MAD PROPS to the WBC for making this happen. I’m sure they made countless peoples’ days by enabling them to watch their friends and family compete at Nationals. I can’t wait to see what they do next time.
*everywhere that publishes barefoot water skiing results
Mad-City Wedge 