Stillwaters slalom league round 2024
The fourth round of the 2024 Irish Waterski Slalom was held at Stillwaters Waterski Centre on the 24th of August.
Introduction
A sunny if slightly chilly Stillwaters Waterski Centre provided the venue for the fourth round of the Irish Slalom League. There were concerns before the event that the tail end of hurricane Ernesto would result in wet and windy conditions, thankfully the weather proved to be just perfect on the day, with sunshine and flat water all day.
Altogether some 20 avid slalom skiers participated in the event, a record entry for the Slalom League. Competitors came from Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club, Meteor WSC in Belfast, Wake and Ski in Meath, Golden Falls WSC as well as two Stillwaters skiers from Naas.
The venue was well prepared for the tournament, with homologation confirmed by Barry Galvin of the Irish Waterski Federation. Official judges were Barry and Rodney Watson, and official drivers were Robin Skelton and Andrew Skelton.
Rory Rankin from Meteor WSC rounds buoy 2
Round 4 Update
In Division 3 we had newcomer Nathan Skelton up against Kate Callagy and Uma Prunty. Nathan, Kate and Uma had been training at the Stillwaters site during the week as part of a training course run by coach Andrew Skelton and which was supported by the Women In Sport initiative from Sport Ireland. Kate and Uma moved up from Division 3 to Division 2 after some stylish skiing, to join Lizzy Rankin and Trish Hennessy.
Kate Callagy in action at Stillwaters Waterski Centre
In Division 1 (longline) we had Andrea Wilson, Keanna McKibbin, Arthur Murphy, Lauren Hennessy, Brian Callagy, Bríd Deegan, Pippa and Simon Durham.
Keanna McKibbin had an excellent PB with 2.5 buoys at 49km/hr.
In the shortline division we had Sam Burke-Kennedy (who’ll be representing Ireland in the World’s next week), Ivan Blakely, Rory Rankin, Barry Galvin, Rodney Watson and Andrew Skelton. Rodney had the best score of the day with 3 buoys on the 12m line. Both Graeme and Barry skied into 13m.
James O’Connell Memorial Prize
Stillwaters WSC award the James O’Connell Memorial prize to skiers who show great potential and who demonstrate good sportsmanship. This year the recipient of the prize was Keanna McKibbin.
In conclusion the Stillwaters stop of the Slalom League went very smoothly, big shout-outs to the travelling officials Rodney and Barry, without whose support the event couldn’t have been run. Thanks to Sport Ireland and Women in Sport who supported this event. Also thanks to all competitors who participated.
Up next will be Round 5 of the Slalom League which will be held remotely at home sites on the 5th-8th September 2024.
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