Sam Burke-Kennedy’s World Over 35 Waterski Championship report
Going to the +35 Worlds was undoubtedly the highlight of my 40+ years in the sport.
The adventure started when Barry Galvin sought expressions of interest to compete and I thought I'd have nothing to lose by putting my name in the hat. To my surprise Barry made contact a few weeks later to say I was selected and if I'd also consider jumping and tricking. Head spinning from being selected I told him I'd think about it.
Firmly on the fence about going I shared the news with my wife Chantal who said "You have to do this" and that was all I needed to make the commitment.
With a fluorescent green pass to throw myself at the lake for Summer 2024 I tried to get down as much as possible. Unfortunately the ESB had scheduled their Golden Falls dam maintenance that they do every decade and between that and some bad weather in July I missed over a month of Summer ski time.
Fortunately I had a 2-week family holiday booked in Lacanau in early August and managed to get 13 sets in. Geraldine and team helped me address some of my many bad habits and by the time I left I was running 16m comfortably, getting to 5@14 regularly and I had run 14m once! This consistency was new territory for me!
This was also the first family ski holiday for my gang! Leila (17) is now ready for the mini course, Leo (14) has ditched the wakeboard for slalom and is close at Leila's heels and Rose (11) has ditched the knee board and is steady as a rock and flying across the wakes behind the boat on two skis! Chantal loves to sunbathe with a book and the aim is to rejuvenate her interest in skiing next Summer (she's a natural sports woman with no fear and is comfortable on a slalom ski!).
On return I teamed up regularly with Dom Jameson for sets at GFWSC. Moving from the hard water to the soft stuff (Lacanau) and back to the hard water was a challenge. I was scratching my head wondering if the improved consistency I had achieved in France was a dream or what.
The Stillwaters Slalom league stop was an important milestone in my prep for the worlds. It would be my first competition of the season and involved going to a lake that I hadn't ski'd before and adapting quickly - a great challenge to have less than 2-weeks from the Worlds! I made a mess of Round 1 but recovered by getting into 14m in both rounds 2 and 3. In the Worlds you only get 1 shot (not 3) so this began to play on my mind.
Arriving in Spain, my official Familiarisation was scheduled for Sunday and the Prelims were on Thursday. This meant I'd have 3+ without skiing which was not ideal preparation. Familiarisation was 6-mins or max of 4-passes and I ran 1@14m off the dock. Everything felt good, the water, the boat, the site, not to mention the beautiful 30 degree weather and the warm welcome from the Botas family! All I needed now was to get more time on the water before Thursday!
The rules say you can't ski again on the same lake after your familiarisation, presumably because they can't accommodate everybody (280 skiers) so that would create an unfair advantage for anyone that does manage to ski again on the same lake. I asked Nadine Botas a ton of times for an additional practice set and eventually I got one on Lake Pippo. It was a mixed bag of a practice set; I fell at 5@55kph/18m off the dock initially and then went back down to 52kph and then ran straight through to 5.5@55kph/14m. After fighting so hard for an additional practice set, the mixed performance coupled with the weight of knowing that I only get one shot on the big day were making me nervous!
I was working from my hotel during the day and enjoying the company of skiers all over the world in the evenings. The Aussies were great company and former GFWSC driver Scott Reeves was on the team and staying in the hotel so it was great to catch up with him.
Team mate Dianne Kirby was having a major challenge with locating her skis after the airline lost them in transit. Dianne's skis still hadn't arrived by the time her slalom round came up so she had to borrow and chance her luck. I couldn't have had a better team mate than Dianne. Her international tournament experience is immense and her positivity infectious. Dianne is a titan of the sport and that was evidenced by her Gold in Overall in the over 70's. Truly inspiring stuff!
The big day arrived on Thursday and I got down to the lake for 8am to be ready to ski at approx. 10am. Conditions were excellent and I was excited to get going. I ran my 52kph, 55kph and things unravelled as I came around bouy 3 at 16m. Whilst disappointed not to have run that pass, I was also happy that I got a couple of passes under my belt on the big stage. The Aussies gave me a guard of honor as I climbed onto the shore which was amazing (and surreal)!
The whole experience of entering the Worlds was just fantastic, from the preparation to the event itself. I went out in conditions during the Summer that I would normally not bother to ski in and I got coaching for the first time in many years. The whole experience was adventure and I've created memories for life!
I'm hugely grateful the IrWWF for their support and encouragement. This would not have been possible without its support.
Sam Burke-Kennedy