Dream Lake barefoot ski competition ‘best the worlds have ever been’

Records fall, Canada’s Moynes Meyer captures bronze in jumps

Adam Bramburger

Beaver Staff

Over the past week, little Dream Lake has provided some big moments in barefoot water skiing lore.

The International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) world championships east of Selby featured as many as six broken or tied world records, a career-capping performance for one of the sport’s all-time legends, and even a hometown hero on the podium Saturday.

IWWF president Jose Antonio Perez Priego was enthused about everything he saw.

“It was just amazing. I don’t know if you were paying attention to the world records that were broke here. Its as actually a dream lake,” he said. “The skiing was amazing, the conditions were incredible — just perfect. With the people helping us, the volunteers and the family, you know it was just incredible, the best the worlds have ever been.”

American competitor Keith St. Onge knows the world stage well. Going into the past week, he’d won 14 gold medals at the world championships. He has also held his share of world records. With competitors half his age on the water, it would seem the odds were against him, but he showed otherwise.

When all was said and done, St. Onge was the only competitor in the men’s open competition on the podium four times. He earned silver medals in slalom and tricks and tied for second in jumps before placing second overall to Great Britain’s David Small. In the process, St. Onge broke his own world record in the slalom semifinal with a score of 20.90.

“I felt pretty good. I’m 40 years old, so I’m kind of the old buck in skiing against the elite athletes right now. I was very happy with my performance and I can’t complain about it,” he said.

St. Onge, who grew up six hours from here in New Hampshire and descended from grandparents who lived in Montreal, had praise for the lake that hosted his latest triumphs.

“This lake was made for waterskiing and barefooting. There were perfect conditions, no backwash, flat water (which we’re always looking for) and the weather held up,” he said.

In a 30-year career St. Onge said he’s seen his sport grow, but also improve.

“It’s not only grown, but the level continues to grow higher, which is pretty amazing,” he said.

He said he felt the first world championships hosted in Canada should encourage more involvement here.

Small edged out St. Onge by taking gold medals in tricks and in slalom, grabbing back a world record he previously held in the tricks event. He, too, felt it was a good week, although he wanted to jump better.

Again, the champion attributed the lake to his success.

“This lake is unbelievable. I’d say it’s in the top three places I’ve skied around the world. It’s long enough and it was flat all week. It’s very rare to find a ski site that would stay flat all duration of the tournament.”

Australia’s Ashleigh Stebbeings ran the table in the open women’s competition, sweeping gold in all disciplines. Kiwi Georgia Groen added two silver and a bronze, solidly finishing as the runner up.

With those two athletes a given on the podium at any given time, there was often a hard-fought race to see who would share the limelight in each discipline. In jumps, it just happened to be Belleville’s Becky Moynes Meyer. The Canadian champion registered a personal best distance of 13.7 metres in Saturday’s final to capture bronze, capping off a busy year of training and planning for the championship.

Walking up the shoreline with a Canadian flag towel draped over her shoulders, she earned a steady stream of congratulations from competitors and fans from around the world.

“I’m super excited to be able to (win bronze) at home in Canada in front of the hometown crowd. It’s pretty awesome,” Moynes Meyer said. “I’ve been trying all week to get my timing right. You’ve just got to keep your feet together and square, get that little bit of a raise and not pull too far back. It all came together on that jump.”

The Canadian champion ultimately placed fifth overall and garnered some amazing memories.

“We’ve had a lot of people out. Today’s definitely the biggest day,” she said Saturday. “We’ve had tons of people on the site, which is awesome for the skiers to see. Overall, it’s been a big week.”

Like St. Onge, she said the tournament could be a turning point for interest in the sport as many people have been asking questions and showing interest in learning. She said the skiers are happy to teach.

Moynes Meyer was pleased to hear her peers from around the world talk about the top-notch facility in her own backyard that could compete with any around the world — a place made for memories on the water.

“Dream Lake is really the perfect name for it,” she said.

That’s music to Dwight Williams’ ears. A slalom skier himself, friends encouraged him to build the lake on his property. His family had first contact with barefoot organizers in 2013 and by 2016 their facility was awarded the worlds. Everything went according to plan for the Lennox Fence owner.

“The last two months have been busy, but we have a great team,” he said. “Everybody is here is like a big family. We’ve got some pending world records, that’s good. It’s the best conditions they’ve ever had. That’s what’s important. You had to do something and only do it half-assed. We picked it up a notch here.”

Williams said “You never know what the future holds” when asked whether Dream Lake might serve as host for other world-class events, but Perez Priego indicated there are some big plans ahead for the facility.

“We would love to have more world-class events here,” he said. “There might be more traditional waterskiing with skis, they probably will do nationals here in the next couple years. We would love to have more big-time tournaments like the Pan American Games or other world-class tournaments on Dream Lake.”

Perez Priego said organizers, athletes, and fans really enjoyed the hospitality in the area.

“They made us feel like we’re at home. Waterskiing has always been like a family thing, but it was nice at the restaurants and at the bars, everywhere they made us feel welcome and a part of the town, which is great. You’re not just an average tourist, you’re part of the local culture and we love that.”

The following are the top finishers in each category this week…

Open Women

Slalom -1. Ashleigh Stebbeings (Australia), 2. Georgia Groen (New Zealand), 3. Brooke Fitch (New Zealand)
Tricks – 1. Stebbeings, 2. Lexi McCauley (USA), 3.Groen.
Jumps – 1. Stebbeings, 2. Groen, 3. Becky Moynes Meyer (Canada).
Overall – 1. Stebbeings, 2. Groen, 3. McCauley.

Open Men

Slalom – 1. Keith St. Onge (USA), 2. David Small (Great Britain), 3. Jackson Gerard (USA) and Keenan Derry (Australia) tied.
Tricks – 1. Small, 2. Gerard, 3. St. Onge.
Jump – 1. Derry, 2. Derry and St. Onge tied, 3. Ben Franks (Australia).
Overall – 1. Small, 2. St. Onge, 3. Gerard.
* Small set a new world record in tricks, St. Onge in slalom.

Junior Women

Slalom – 1. McCauley, 2. Alex Youngblood (USA), 3. Elaina McClung (New Zealand).
Tricks – 1. McCauley, 2. Youngblood, 3. Ryleigh Stenson (USA).
Jumps – 1. Youngblood, 2. McCauley, 3. Stenson.
Overall – 1. McCauley, 2. Youngblood, 3. April Foster (New Zealand).

Junior Men

Slalom – 1. Gerard, 2. Brice Storman (USA), 3. Tee-Jay Russo (Australia).
Tricks – 1. Gerard, 2. William Leigh (New Zealand), 3. Andrea Emma (Italy).
Jumps – 1. Russo, 2. Gerard, 3. Leigh.
Overall – 1. Gerard, 2. Russo, 3. Leigh.
* – Gerard set new world records in tricks and slalom.

Senior Women

Slalom – 1. Rachel Normand (USA), 2. Svenja Hempelmann (Germany), 3. Steffi Kirsch (Germany).
Tricks – 1. Normand, 2. Kirsch, 3. Hempelmann.
Jumps – 1. Normand, 2 Kirsch, 3. Teri Larson Jones (USA).
Overall – 1. Normand, 2. Kirsch, 3. Hempelmann.
* – Normand set a new world record in slalom.

Senior Men

Slalom – 1. Brett Sands (Australia), 2. Jason Lee (USA), 3. Joe Lovato (USA).
Tricks – 1. Lee, 2. Sands, 3. William Farrell (USA).
Jump – 1. Lee and Bevan Kelly (New Zealand) tie, 2. Sands, 3. Jim Nyberg (Sweden).
Overall – 1. Lee, 2. Sands, 3. Nyberg.
* – Sands set a new world record in slalom.