‘Take home a national title': Saskatoon hosts Western Canadian water skiing championship
Hosted at the Saskatoon Water Ski Club, the event was an opportunity for the best in water skiing to try for a spot at the national championships in Edmonton later this summer.
'It's awesome, jumping is amazing. It's a sport like no other. There's a lot of adrenaline, and the flight time is just unreal. It's something that I'm honestly pretty addicted to now at this point,' said 22-year-old competitor Carter Lucas.
Home site advantage was certainly a bonus for those who train with the Saskatoon Water Ski Club.
'I'm doing a lot of work as an official and also as a skier. And I get to see all my kids that I coach and ski with every day,' Lucas said.
Fifteen-year-old Sophie Strilchuk is from Lloydminster but trains with the Saskatoon Water Ski Club.
'It was super fun, I had a great time, and I got a good score. It feels great, we have a home site advantage, and it makes it easier and more fun,' Strilchuk said.
Strilchuk added that the opportunity to share the love for the sport is always an enjoyable aspect of competition.
'It's just fun being in the air. I don't know, it's just like there's no other feeling like it,' Strilchuk said.
After this weekend, many water skiers will be preparing for the Canadian Nationals, all in the hopes of bringing home the title to Saskatoon.
'A lot of the people here are all going to be competing at nationals in a few weeks, and I'm really excited for that. A lot of good performances are coming up, and I'm hoping some of my kids and I can take home a national title,' Lucas said.
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Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors McIntosh is aiming to win five gold medals in individual events at the worlds in Singapore, and the first one came Sunday in the 400-metre freestyle on the first of eight days in the pool. Only legendary American Michael Phelps has ever won five individual medals in the worlds. He also did it at the Olympics. McIntosh won but did not break her own world record, winning in 3 minutes, 56.26 seconds. Li Bingjie of China took silver (3:58.21) with a late charge to leave American Katie Ledecky (3:58.49) with bronze. A year ago in the Olympics, Ledecky also took bronze in the 400. 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