By by Scott N. Atkinson for USA Water Ski
WARSAW, Indiana — The Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team won the national team title at the 49th Indmar Marine Engines Division 1 Show Ski National Championships held Aug. 9-11, 2024 at Hidden Lake in Warsaw, Ind.
The Aqua Jay’s also won:
Ballet
Towboat driving
Pyramid
Dock and equipment
Production
The Aqua Jays earned high-scoring awards for dock and equipment personnel, towboat driving, production, overall show, ballet and pyramid in tallying a grand total 1,831.36 points in winning its second consecutive and 23rd national title in the history of the event.
The Mad-City Ski Team (Madison, Wis.) placed second with 1,821.58 points and Wonder Lake (Wonder Lake, Ill.) finished third with 1,775.88 points.
The tournament featured 12 teams and more than 1,300 athletes. In competitive show skiing, each club has one hour to present a theatrical performance on water skis. Judges score acts by awarding points based on originality, presentation and execution. Elaborate costumes and staging intermix with music and fast action on the water as an announcer leads the audience through the show.
Kailey Koehler (Lake Geneva, Wis.) and Kevin Bruckner (Maplewood, Minn.) won the Willa Cook and Skip Gilkerson awards, respectively. The awards are given to the tournament’s top female performer and top male performer, as voted on by the tournament officials.
In addition to the team competition, athletes competed individually in swivel, swivel pairs, strap doubles, women’s freestyle jump, men’s freestyle jump and team jump. Caroline Grubs (White Bear Lake, Minn.) won the swivel title, scoring 18.52 points. Brea Imse (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Paige Peshina (Malvern, Ohio) won swivel pairs, scoring 16.86 points. Kimberly Stoner (Hartland, Wis.) and Cory Krivitz (Hartland, Wis.) won doubles, scoring 17.32 points. Bailey Hyatt (Winter Haven, Fla.) won women’s freestyle jump, scoring 334.00 points. Pete Hegarty (Winter Haven, Fla.) won men’s freestyle jump, scoring 1,121.00 points. The Little Crow Ski Team (New London, Minn.) won team jumping, scoring 76.20 points.
