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Canada Stands Strong at the World Water Ski Championships

OTTAWA, ON – Water Ski Canada is pleased to congratulate our Canadian athletes on a successful World Water Ski Champions, in Paris, France, September 3-10, 2017.

Despite the rain and wind, Canada stood strong against athletes from 31 countries and captured 2 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals; 4 top eight finishes; and a third place team finish.  This represents one of Canada’s strongest World Championships and demonstrates the depth of the Canadian program with medals and top 9 finishes earned by 9 athletes.

In Women’s Slalom finals action, Whitney McClintock (Canada) and Regina Jaquess (USA) tied for 1^st with 2 @ 10.75. The runoff proved to be an epic battle as both skiers completed the 11-meter pass (tailwind) off the dock.  One of the highlights of the Championships, it took 2 rounds to determine the winner, with Regina taking the gold and Whitney the silver medal.  Canada’s 17-year-old Jaimee Bull won her first World Championships medal, scoring 4 on the 11.25 line to earn a bronze medal.  Two podiums in women’s slalom marks a first for Canada, with Neilly Ross making it into the finals and finishing 11^th. 

In the Men’s Slalom final Jason McClintock (Canada) was 2^nd of 12 finalists off the dock.  Posting the top score of 1.5 buoys @ 10.75, Jason waited anxiously as the remaining 10 skiers chased his score which held up and earned him a bronze medal behind Great Britain’s William Asher (2^nd at 2.5 @ 10.75) and Frederick Winter (1^st at 3 @ 10.75).

In the Women’s Trick final, vying for gold, Neilly Ross (Canada) added the front flip, nailing her run with a score of 10220 points.  Anna Gay (USA), last off the dock, skiing at a fast pace, fell on her toe pass, opening the door for Erika Lang (USA) at 9820 points to claim 2nd and Natallia Berdnikava (BLR) at 9520 points for 3rd. Paige Rini (Canada) in her first World Open Championships, nailed her run in prelims and topped it off in the finals to finish 7^th with 7720 points.

In the Men’s Trick final, Dorien Llewellyn (Canada) tricked over ten thousand points but after video reviewed finished 9^th at 9980 points. Legendary Jaret Llewellyn competed in Trick realizing his goal of competing alongside his son but failed to advance to the finals, still struggling to return back at full power after his severe crash at the 2015 World Championships.

In the Men’s Jump finals, coming off a record setting season, Ryan Dodd (Canada) – top seed in the finals – read the conditions perfectly. Attacking on his first jump, Ryan captured gold with one jump with a distance of 68.4 meters, followed by Freddy Krueger (USA) at 65.9 meters and Taylor Garcia (USA) at 62.9 meters.  Alex Paradis (Canada) finished 8^th with a jump of 61.2 meters. Alex was only 1.5 meters off the podium and moved from 10^th to 8^th since last Worlds.  This is Ryan’s second consecutive World jump title.

In the Women’s Jump finals, Taryn Grant (Canada) finished 8^th with a jump of 61.2 meters; and similar to Alex was only 1.7 m off the podium.  Canada’s Whitney McClintock finished in 13^th place at 46.1 meters and Dominique Grondin Allard who fell in finals, finished 19^th at 41.4 meters.

Overall was hard fought and young gun Dorien Llewellyn finished in a very respectable 5^th place.   Jumping earlier in the week with adverse wind condition ultimately affected his overall score. Strong in all three events, he is on track to podium at the 2019 Worlds.  Favored to win overall, Whitney McClintock’s fall in Tricks moved her back to 10^th position.  Challenging water conditions combined with sporadic wind gusts proved difficult for skiers to maximize performance.         

In the Team event, Canada finished 3^rd behind France and USA.  Canada’s goal of winning the team title fell short with the limited combination of backup scores.  Belarus was close behind in 4^th position. 

With athlete’s sights set on the podium, prelim conditions varied day to day which made making the cut challenging. Other Canadian athletes putting in respectable finishes but not advancing to finals include:     

• Slalom: Breanne Dodd skied 3.5 @ 12, Taryn Grant skied 3 @ 12, Dorien Llewellyn skied 3 @ 11.25 and Stephen Neveu skied 5 @ 12 who opted up from 13m to 11m and managed to score 5 buoys at 11 m but was scored at 12 m because he did not complete the pass.   
• Trick: Whitney McClintock tricked 4390 points.
• Jump: Dorien Llewellyn went 56.8 meters.

Lead by National Team Head Coach Steve Bush, Assistant Coach Cole Grant and newcomer Darren Wharrie as the team’s medical, Team Canada continued to prove they are a strong team with a depth of competitors that continues to dominate on the international stage.

“I am truly proud of how our athletes performed” said National Team Head Coach Steve Bush.  “This was a challenging tournament with the busy water, rain and wind, and our athletes experience and training paid off.  I am very proud of their accomplishments both on and off the water”.

Congratulations to our 2017 World Water Ski Championship athletes!

Check out Team Canada getting ready for the Worlds at Sesena Water Ski Club, Spain!

Photo video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-0gprbWeus&feature=youtu.be

Video training

https://vimeo.com/233694037

The Ski Nautique 200 was the official towboat of the World Water Ski Championships and Nautique is the official tow boat of Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada http://www.nautique.com

Team Canada is proudly supported by @GP8 water, @Kelsey Trailer, @Nautique Boats

Canadian Athletes

Gold Performances – Canada’s Neilly Ross won the gold medal in Women’s Trick with 10220 points and Ryan Dodd won the gold medal in Men’s Jump at 68.4 meters.  Great Britain’s Frederick Winter won Men’s Slalom (2 @ 10.25); USA’s Regina Jaquess won Women’s Slalom (1 @ 10.25); USA’s Adam Pickos won Men’s Trick with 11,570 points; Australia’s Jacinta Carroll won Women’s Jump at 55.1 meters; USA’s Regina Jaquess won Women’s Overall with 2549.88 points; and Chile’s Felipe Miranda won Men’s Overall with 2751.18 points.