Competition
Barefoot water skiing has a competitive aspect which is very established. In traditional competition, there are three events:
- Tricks – The skier has two passes of 15 seconds to complete as many different tricks as possible. All tricks have specific point values depending on difficulty. The skier also is awarded points for the start trick they performed to get up. For more information on points awarded for each trick, see the Trick Point Chart.
- Slalom – The skier has two passes of 15 seconds to cross the wake as many times are possible. The skier can cross the wake forwards or backwards and on two feet or one foot. The world record was set by Keith St. Onge in 2006 (20.6).
- Jump – The skier travels over a small, fiberglass jump ramp. They have three jumps and the longest one successfully landed counts. Professionals can jump as far as 90 feet (27.4 meters) and the world record of 29.9 meters (98.1 feet) was set by David Small.
For more information on rules, see the World Barefoot Council.
Some other barefoot competitions feature endurance events. These include:
- Figure 8 – Two skiers on opposite sides of the wake ski while the boat drives in the pattern of a figure 8. The skier who is the last one standing wins.
- Team Endurance – This is a race between a variety of teams. Each team has a boat and the skiers take turns skiing. This generally takes place on a long river, where race distances can be up to about 45 miles. The first team to cross the finish line wins.
The newest form of Barefoot competition is an event which brings together all three events Tricks, Slalom and Jump into a single set.
Read more about this topic: Barefoot Skiing
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“Playing games with agreed upon rules helps children learn to live by rules, establish the delicate balance between competition and cooperation, between fair play and justice and exploitation and abuse of these for personal gain. It helps them learn to manage the warmth of winning and the hurt of losing; it helps them to believe that there will be another chance to win the next time.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)