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From USAWATERSKI.ORG
The Editor's Notepad, September 2010
by: Scott Atkinson
I have been covering April Coble-Eller since February 1998, but I was surprised to learn (or be reminded of the fact) that her win at the 2010 Malibu Open on Aug. 7 was the first professional slalom victory of her brilliant career. What a great moment for a true ambassador to the sport of water skiing.
When I was hired as editor of The Water Skier a dozen years back, April was coming off a year in which she had won the women's overall title at the Masters and earned the silver medal in women's slalom at the Water Ski World Championships. But her slalom victory at the 2010 Malibu Open came after countless final round top-seeds and runner-up finishes over the past 15 years at events like the Masters and U.S. Open. When I asked her how she would sum up the so many close calls she has had in her career, she quickly replied: "I was thinking about writing a book called, 'I almost did it!' Now I can write a book called, 'I finally did it!'"
You have to love that response. It's typical April. She is one of the most positive, refreshing persons you could ever meet, and one of the most popular water ski athletes and coaches involved in the sport. I am truly happy for her triumph at the Malibu Open. It was well deserved, yet long overdue for one of the most friendly and dedicated water ski personalities I have met.
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Milwaukee's Best
Staying with the Coble-Eller/Malibu Open theme...tournament organizer Dana Reed says the event was such a success that the 2011 Malibu Open has already been scheduled for Aug. 5-6 at the same location in downtown Milwaukee. "Dana said to me a couple of years ago when he found this site that if this one didn't work [to attract large spectator numbers], nowhere would," said Coble-Eller. "It felt like the Moomba Masters [where thousands line the shoreline of the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia, each spring], and I know that if we keep it on the same site and same weekend every year, it will be an event like the U.S. Masters where people put it on their calendars a year in advance. There were more than 12,000 people in and around the park over the two days. The vendors said sales were better than the spring boat shows. And the Midwest crowd was awesome. People came from everywhere!"
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