Waterskiing - History

History

Water skiing was invented in 1922 when Ralph Samuelson used a pair of boards as skis and a clothesline as a tow rope on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota. The sport remained a little-known activity for several years. Then, Samuelson performed shows from Michigan to Florida. In 1966, the American Water Ski Association formally acknowledged Samuelson as the first water skiier on record. Samuelson was also the first ski racer, first to go over a jump ramp, first to slalom ski, and the first to put on a water ski show. He experimented with different positions on the skis for several days until 2 July 1922. Finally, Ralph discovered that leaning backwards in the water with ski tips up and poking out of the water at the tip was optimal. His brother Ben towed him and they reached a speed of 20 miles per hour. Samuelson also achieved the first ski jump on 8 July 1925 using a greased 4 feet (1.2 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) ramp, making him the first water ski jumper. He then spent 15 years giving shows and teaching lessons about water skiing to people in the United States. Then, Samuelson went even farther and hooked up behind a WWI flying boat with 200 horsepower. He reached a speed of 80 miles per hour, making him the first speed skier. Samuelson's first equipment consisted of barrel staves for skis. Then, he tried snow skis but finally made his own design out of lumber with bindings made of strips of leather and the ski rope made from a long window sash. They were the first skis designed for water skiing. Samuelson never patented any of his skiing equipment, but the first patent for water skis was by Fred Waller for skis called Dolphin Akwa-Skees. Jack Andresen patented the first trick ski, a shorter, finless water ski, in 1940.

Water Skiing became part of several tournaments and many water ski competitions were put together. As an exhibition sport, water skiing was included in the 1972 Olympics. The first National Show Ski Tournament was held in 1974, and the first ever National Intercollegiate Water Ski Championships was held in 1979. The first competition for people with disabilities, Home CARE US National Water Ski Challenge, was organized ten years later. The first patented design of a water ski that included carbon fiber was that of Hani Audah at SPORT labs in 2001, and its first inclusion in tournament slalom skiing was in 2003.