Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Water-skiers from all corners of the globe will come to Selby Aug. 11-19 when the man-made Dream Lake plays host to the World Barefoot Championship.
Preparations are well underway for the event, which will mark the first time Canada has hosted the worlds in barefoot waterskiing.
“We’re expecting around 120 athletes, 30 officials from 13 or 14 different countries to compete,” said Becky Moynes-Meyer, who is both helping to organize the event as well as planning to compete in it. The Prince Edward County native is a national champion and has represented Canada at several world events.
“There’s Australia, New Zealand, United States, Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Great Britain,” Moynes-Meyer says of the backgrounds of the athletes that have already confirmed to attend, with more expected. “There’s quite a lot of countries.”
Moynes-Meyer is expected to lead a team of eight to 10 Canadians that will compete on their home waters.
The competition will feature a judged tricks component, in which skiers will have two passes of 15 seconds to complete as many tricks as possible before a panel of judges. Slalom will see the skier take a pair of 15 second passes to cross their wake many times as possible. There is also a jumping component, where participants have three opportunities to jump from a ramp, with the longest successfully landed attempt counting for their final score.
Moynes-Meyer says the planning committee has been hard at work putting the final touches on this summer’s event at Dream Lake.
There’s been growing anticipation among competitors as the world championship marks the pinnacle of their sport.
“Amongst the barefoot community people are excited for the first one in Canada,” said Moynes-Meyer. “There’s a lot of skiers and friends from around the world that I’ve met at the other world championships that are really looking forward to coming to Canada for this event.”
Admission to the competition will be free of charge and members of the public are invited to watch the world’s top skiers show their stuff.
“We’re really hoping to get a good crowd out and wow the other skiers from other countries and have them skiing in front of a big crowd,” said Moynes-Meyer.
It’s expected to be a big tourist draw for the week, with friends and family of the skiers expected to stay in Lennox and Addington County throughout the week.
To help promote the event, Moynes-Meyer will once again be performing a series of tricks at the Greater Napanee Riverfront Festival, which will take place June 9.
Dream Lake is located at 1632 County Rd 11 in Greater Napanee.