Meteor slalom league round 2024
The 2nd stop of the IrWWF slalom league was held by Meteor Waterski Club at Lough Henney, near Belfast on Saturday 3rd August 2024.
It was well attended with a total of 19 skiers taking part in the 3 divisions. Ages ranged from 12 years old to 70+ age, there were 8 females (the largest number for many years), and Cork, Golden Falls, Wake N Ski and Meteor clubs were all represented.
The day kicked off with most Meteor skiers skiing first to allow travelling skiers time to arrive. Sunshine and a fresh South Westerly breeze tailed all skiers on their first pass and of course made them work harder on their return pass. This weather pattern continued throughout the day accompanied by a couple of showers of rain in the afternoon, but generally, weather conditions were sunny and kind, considering the summer we’ve had so far! The first round was completed by lunchtime and the skiers were given the option to complete their 3rd round straight after their 2nd round whilst still in the water - all of the skiers selected this option, and the competition was completed by 5.30pm.
Both Daniel Galvin and Rodney Watson got down to the very short 12m length in the Div1 short line (2/3rds the normal slalom length!!). Kate Callagy, Trish Hennessy and Lizzy Rankin all skied well in Div2, and in Div3 Uma Prunty got down to 13m. Of the home skiers, Ivan Blakely scored a competition PB with 0.5 buoys @ 14m/52kph and Rory Rankin equalled his competition PB with 2 buoys @ 14m/58kph.
Other notable travelling skiers included; Brid Deegan, Graeme McKibbin, Keanna McKibbin, Brian Callagy, Lauren Hennessy, Simon Durham, Rick Deegan, and Andrea Wilson.
A successful 2nd stop slalom league competition day was enjoyed by all!