Well there it happened, we all know its part of the game and that it will happen sooner or later.
Well I took a bit of a digger the other day at Scot and Kiwi’s tournament.
As most of you know I dont get much lift, but the other day I achieved full lift. When I came of the ramp (with straight legs:)!!!) I got so much pull that my heal lifted out of my left binding a little bit. Tried just to stay still but must have taken my focus of my right ski, because it got taken by a gust of wind. I didn’t stress to much about it to begin with, thought it would come back, but since I already had a hard time keeping my left under me, my right got away from me and both skies started going up and down shortly before impact. And went in half way on my skies and on the head. Ray said the jump would have been absolutely huge if I would have released the pull a bit earlier in air. Not used to this lift business. Do know I have never ever been that high before…sucks I had to land on my head.
Now in hospital and I have shattered my right heal bone. Dont know about the rest of the damage before they go in which will be on thursday. The doctor says its a very complicated surgery but I have told him to book me lots of time and that my foot needs to be 100% again.
Must say I am very worried and have had a hard time not being sad, but Tom and ray by my side helps a lot. Tom is sleeping on the floor in here, so he can help me at night too. Nicole and Aidan also cheering me up with chocolate cakes and magazines in between my awareness (strong medicine in here).
Thanks for all your messages, hope to come back with some good news.
Fluid Ski & Sports will host the first-ever Rocketman Night Jump, which will crown the 2010 Dark Knight on Oct. 9, 2010. The event will take place in conjunction with the 2010 SplashEye Rocketman Record tournament, which will take place over the Oct. 9-10 weekend on Lake Grew in Winter Haven, Florida.
"This event has been a dream of Scot "the Rocketman" Ellis' for a long time, and we are pumped that we are going to get it happening this year," says tournament director Kyle Eade. "We have been inspired by great pro events like the London Night Jump and the LA Night Jam and want to follow their lead and put on an awesome night jump show in Florida."
VIP tickets are available for $20 and include free food, drinks, the best DJ in Florida and the best seat in the house. Entries are still open for the night jump, the bikini contest and for the SplashEye Rocketman Record Jump and Trick, but they are filling up fast. Other events at Fluid Ski & Sports include "A Day to Remember" with "In His Wakes" on Oct. 11; the Holy Cow Cup, our last 3-event record tournament on October 16-17, and the USA Waterski Tow Boat Tests October 18-19.
For more information about these events, club membership, and training with Fluid Ski & Sports, visit www.SkiFluid.com.
2010 Rocketman Night Jump Schedule
6 p.m. The world's top jumpers warm up with the Ski Fly Single Cut Championship, chasing a cash prize and a bonus for the Ski Fly World Single Cut Record, which is currently set at 170 feet.
6:45 p.m. The bikini contest is up next as the sun fades and the lights and crowd get turned on!
7:30 p.m. Night Jump preliminaries begin and the jumpers will take to the water attacking the ramp at more 70 mph in the darkness, aiming for a place in the three-man final and a cash bonus to take down the World Night Jump Record of 235 feet.
9 p.m. The top ladies strut their stuff one last time in the bikini finals.
9:30 p.m. The Night Jump finals as the top three head back out onto the water with only one jump each for the money and the title!
Will ran 1@43 first rd, Regina ran 1@41 in finals..
Information from USA Waterski:
U.S. water ski athlete Regina Jaquess won the women's slalom title Sunday at the 2010 Diablo Shores Pro-Am in Brentwood, Calif. Great Britain's Will Asher won the men's slalom title.
Jaquess scored 1 buoy at 41 feet off in the head-to-head finale against Great Britain's Nicole Arthur, who scored 3-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off. Australia's Karina Nowlan finished third, followed by U.S. athlete April Coble-Eller.
Asher scored 3 buoys at 41 feet off in the men's head-to-head finale against U.S. athlete Jamie Beauchesne, who scored 3-1/2 buoys at 39-1/2 feet off.
U.S. athlete Chris Parrish finished third, followed by Italy's Thomas Degasperi.
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!"
