Manitoba Water Ski Icon passed away
It is with a heavy heart that Water Ski-Wakeboard Manitoba offers their sincere condolences to the members of the Reid family as Dr Ian Reid passed away Monday January 12th at the age 82.
Dr Reid was an extremely well known and well respected member of the Water Ski community both in Manitoba and Canada; having acted as trailblazer, coach, official, administrator and overall builder of the sport for over 40 years.
Dr Reid founded Manitoba’s first waterski club, the Selkirk Seals, in 1951. He was also a founding member of the Manitoba Waterski Association (MWA) in 1953, the first of its kind in Canada.
Amongst his countless other contributions to the sport, Dr Reid introduced safety-helmets to waterski jumping. He was the author of "A History of Waterskiing in Manitoba" and the creator and curator of the Manitoba Museum of Waterskiing in Selkirk (the only one of its kind in Canada). He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 along side his son Bruce Reid.
A celebration of his life will be held at the Selkirk United Church, 202 McLean Ave. in Selkirk on Saturday, January 18 at 2:00 p.m. with a reception to follow at the church.
The full obituary can be viewed here.
Team Canada Water Skier Taryn Grant Selected to CIBC Team Next
November 18, 2013
OTTAWA — Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada is pleased to announce that Taryn Grant has been selected to represent the sport of Water Ski and Wakeboard on CIBC Team Next.
Grant is one of the 67 amateur athletes from across Canada who will receive from CIBC $15,000 in funding over three years as well as invaluable life skills and sport mentorship from eight of our nation’s finest high performance athletes.
To view the full article please
Taryn Grant - Medalist at U21 World Championships
WSWM would would like to congratulate Taryn Grant on her spectacular performance at this past weekend's U21 World Water Ski Championships in Florida.
Taryn's performance in Slalom earned her a Bronze Medal and a personal best jump of 50.2m earned her a silver medal in Jump.
Team Canada's full performance list and summary can be found here.
And highlight videos from the event can be seen here - Click here to watch the video.
Cole and Taryn Grant named CTV sport stars of the week!
After their impressive performances this summer both Cole and Taryn were recognized by CTV today in their weekly sports star feature. Congratulations!
Click here to watch the video.
Congratulations to Taryn Grant
WSWM would like to congratulate Provincial Team member Taryn Grant for winning the U21 Jump event at the Malibu Open Festival this past weekend!
Full tournament results can be found here.
WSWM Winter Update
We have revised out schedule and will be hosting a Build the Skills Coaching course in the spring (just in time for summer!) Currently we have a short list of those interested in attending, but if you haven’t submitted your name please send us an email so we can keep you updated on the final date/schedule.
WSWM would also like to congratulate Dyllon Hubscher for being recognized as Orlando Watersports rider of the week! Always great to hear about our Provincial Team’s winter training!
WSWM Fall Update
Results from all of our Water Ski and Wakeboard events over the summer can now be found and don’t forget to check out our to view pictures from these events!
Finally I would just like to take a moment to thank all of you for your participation in and support of WSWM programs over the course of the summer. We had a great season with a number of strong provincial events that we couldn’t have made happen without your help. Over the next few months we will be reviewing and planning for the new year as we look forward to another great summer! Anyone looking to get more involved next season is strongly encouraged to come out to the AGM in November.
Also don’t forget to keep your calendars open for the WSWM awards banquet in early March! It should be another great night out at Springhill! Details to follow!
Congratulations to the following Manitoba athletes for their recent outstanding achievements!
Cole Grant – Pan American Water Ski Championships U21 Men Team – 1st slalom, 3rd jump, 3rd overall, 2nd team U21
Taryn Grant – Pan American Water Ski Championships Open Women Team – 3rd jump, 4th slalom, 4th overall, 2nd Team Open
Kole Magnowski – Pan American Water Ski Championships Open Men Team – 3rd jump, 8th Slalom, 2nd Team Open
Jess Polley – Named to the WSWC National Cable Wakeboard Team – IWWF World Championships, Nov 7 – 11th 2012 in Manila, Philippines
All the right moves
The Selkirk Journal – Amanda Lefley
Jess Polley, 18, of East St. Paul was at the top of the podium for two different national wakeboarding competitions in Quebec that were held at the end of August.
Click here to view the full article.
WSWC Wakeboard National Championships Results
Congratulations to our WSWM athletes who did a great job representing Manitoba at the recent WSWC Wakeboard and Cable Wakeboard Championships in Quebec.
All three athletes achieved great results!
Wakeboard NationalsCable Nationals
Junior Men’s Division Pro Men’s Division
Jess Polley 1st
Dyllon Hubscher 5th Jess Polley 2nd
Amateur Rails Amateur Men’s division
Mike Fisette 2nd Mike Fisette 1st
Western Canadian Water Ski Championships
Congratulations to all the athletes who participated in the 2012 Western Canadian Water Ski Championships and a big thank you to all the officials and volunteers who helped make the event possible!
In spite of a bought of bad weather on Saturday we still managed to pull off a great three day tournament with some fantastic results. for Fri/Sat medal rounds for Sun tournament results Provincial Team veterans Cole and Taryn Grant swept their age divisions bringing in a total of 8 gold medals, while Development Team members and new comers to the competitive water ski scene, Brandon Boresky, Lukas Neustaedter and Eric Schillberg all had strong first time performances and we look forward to their continued development in the program.
Canadian Water Ski Championships Results
Manitoba may have had a small group of athletes competing at Nationals but they certainly didn’t disappoint! First time team member Eric Schillberg had a strong showing in a competitive field of athletes and finished 12th in the Junior Men slalom. We definitely look forward to watching him develop over the next few years.
National Team member Kole Magnowski placed 3rd in the Elite men’s slalom competition with a personal best and 3rd in the Elite men’s Jump. He also placed 2nd in the Open men’s Jump competition.
In the U21 men’s division Cole Grant placed 3rd in slalom, 2nd in jump and 1st in trick. He tied his personal best in slalom and beat out a strong group of slalom specialists to snag that medal. Cole also achieved a new personal best in trick which qualified him for the Open Men trick competition for the first time where he finished 3rd winning another well–earned bronze medal.
This year marked Taryn Grant’s first year competing in the U21 women’s division and she more than held her own against some older competitors. She finished 1st in slalom, 1st in jump and 3rd in trick with a new personal best score. These performances qualified her for the Open women’s competition in all three events where she once again improved her personal best trick score and jumped a new personal best of 45.6m (over 150 feet). Those performances combined with another strong slalom run earned her a 2nd place finished overall.
Congratulations to all 4 athletes on their great performances and we look forward to the future!
WSWM are big winners at National Waterski-Wakeboard Congress - Calgary
Congratulations are in order for Michele Grant who was recently named Official of the Year at the Waterski-Wakeboard Canada's annual National Congress. Michele has been officiating for 15 years and each year her involvement in the sport is one of the most valuable volunteer contributions made in Manitoba. In 2011 she was chief calculator at the WSWM Provincial Championships, Western Canadian Waterski Championships, Canadian Waterski Championships, the Under 21 World Waterski Championships in France as well as the Can-am Invitational Challenge in Illinois. Michele serves on the WSWC Officials committee and is extremely dedicated to the mentorship and development of new/future officials and calculators.
Congratulations Michele and thanks again for all of your hard work and dedication to our sport!
Waterski-Wakeboard Manitoba was also recognized as Province of the Year by Waterski-Wakeboard Canada. This award comes after a busy and successful season of growth and change within the province. With new events and plans being developed for next season hopefully we can rise to challenge and continue on this path! WSWM would like to thank all of our members for a great year; each and every one of you played a part in achieving this award.
Wakeboard Season Update
Congratulations to Jess Polley for his bronze and silver medal performances in the Junior Men division and Pro Sliders respectively at the recent Canadian Wakeboard Championships held in Kamloops BC. Jess put up some great runs and had to battle against not only some stiff competition but poor seeding in the heats.
Jess was Manitoba’s only representative at this year’s Championships with Dyllon Hubscher out for the season due to injury and Jason Bannatyne, our other top competitor busy competing on the Pro Tour!
Having posted strong performances throughout the tour, Jason finished up with a 20th place finish in the World Master Craft Pro Men’s division and a 22nd place finish in King of Wake. With over 60 competitors on this year’s tour Jason has achieved what is likely one of Manitoba’s top finishes ever.
WSWM is extremely proud of both Jess and Jason and we look forward to seeing them both compete here in Winnipeg at the Provincial Wakeboard Championships next weekend!
For full event results for the Cdn Wakeboard Championships click here.
For full event results and more information on the World Master Craft Pro Tour click here.
For event and registration information for the Provincial Wakeboard Championships .
Water Ski Provincials Results
Congratulations to all the participants who competed at provincials this past weekend! The weather threated to ruin things but in the end we ended up with a great day.
To view the full tournament results please .
Our recreational tournament participants also had a great day! The two teams were made up of a total of 11 participants from our summer camps and clinics. Each athlete was allowed two warm up passes of the lake and then two scored passes. It was a close competition but in the end Team 2 snuck ahead for the win!
Team one: Lucas Neustaeder, Nick Moore, Adam Neustaeder, Maddox Loustel, Ryan Miller, Robin Miller = 625 points/team total
Team Two: Brandon Boresky, Christian Neustaeder, Mark Neustaeder, Logan Klepatz, Natalia Bukvic = 630 points/team total
We wrapped up the day with a BBQ and awards for everyone. Thanks again to all of our participants, competitors and volunteers. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!
Provincial Team Wakeboarder featured in photo of the year contest
Provincial Team Wakeboarder Dyllon Hubscher is featured here in the Manitoba Communities Newspaper Association's sports photo of the year. The shot; taken by Twyla Machan, also won the overall picture of the year!
Canadian Water Ski Championships Results
Congratulations are once again in order for Team Manitoba for their strong showing at the Canadian Water Ski Championships this past weekend in Ontario! With a small team of only 4 competitors their 4th place finish in the overall team scoring was nothing short of phenomenal.
Please for a summary of the team’s individual results!
Western Canadian Water Ski Championships
Congratulations to our Team Manitoba water skiers for their great performances at the Western Canadian Water Ski Championships this past weekend in Alberta. The Team represented us well and achieved a 1st place finish in the overall team standings! They will now spend the next week and a half on the road gearing up for the Canadian Water Ski Championships being held in King Township, Ontario, August 11-14th.
Individual results:
Cole Grant (Under 21 Men) 1st Overall, 1st Trick, 2nd Slalom, 2nd Jump
Taryn Grant (Junior Women) 1st Overall, Slalom, Trick and Jump
Tanner Polley (Junior Men) 1st Overall, 1st Trick, 3rd Jump
Kole Magnowski (Elite Men) 1st Jump, 2nd Slalom
Team results:
Team Manitoba: 1st Overall
CTV’s Sport Star of the week.
Congratulations to Jess Polley who was named CTV’s Sport Star of the week. Jess finished 2nd in the Open Men division and 1st in the Obstacles division at the recent Canadian Cable Championships. To check out the full interview click here.
Taryn Grant's dreams take big jumps
Taryn Grant has some pretty big dreams, and one of those includes a trip to Italy this August to compete at the junior world water ski championships. On the world ranking list she is currently 7th in slalom, 8th in jump and 11th overall.The 15-year-old Winnipegger’s chances of getting there would appear pretty good, especially since she was recently named by Water Ski Wakeboard Canada as the 2009 Junior Skier of the Year.
Wake Jam 2009 PRESS RELEASE
August 16, 2009 Wake Jam 2009, part of the Coors Light Trauma series, concluded today at Lake Shirley. Riders battled rain and each other in Manitoba's most competitive wakeboard event. Connor Ward, Wake Jam 09 organizer, was thrilled with the venue and the turnout.
Extreme riding in extreme conditions. We had a number of riders who had their personal best runs. It was fantastic to see. Sunday featured the pro division battling in head to head match ups with Jason Bannatyne defeating Connor Ward in the finals. For results, .
Winnipeg’s Taryn Grant successfully defends junior women’s jump title at water ski nationals
August 13, 2009
LEDUC, Alta. – Fourteen-year-old Taryn Grant of Winnipeg successfully defended her women’s junior jump title on Thursday at the Canadian water ski championships while triple world champion Whitney McClintock of Cambridge, Ont., took the women’s elite jump crown.
In the junior women’s jump, Grant soared 35.3 metres on her final attempt to earn the victory and also equal her personal best distance. Megan Collins of Toronto was second at 34.0 and Maddison McCammon of Kelowna, B.C., third at 28.0.
Grant entered Thursday’s jump event disappointed with her fifth place finishes in tricks and slalom on Wednesday.
“I was very motivated to do well in the jump,” said Grant, who has been jumping since age seven. “It is my best event. On the third jump I knew I had to put out a big one to get that win. I had to focus on my turns approaching the ramp and maintain that speed once I reached the ramp.”
McClintock, coming off a triple gold performance at the world championships in Calgary last week, soared a season best 48.9 metres. Jump was the only event she didn’t win at worlds. In men’s jump Kevin Melnuk of Toronto took the gold.
In adaptive water skiing, Benoit Lessard of Sherbrooke, Que., won the men’s slalom event with a personal best to reclaim the Canadian record.
“I’m very pleased with my performance,” said Lessard. “I worked hard this summer on and off the water and it really paid off today. My goal was to get that record back after losing it last year. I was especially pleased with my positioning throughout my runs. Lately every time I go on the water I set a personal best.”
Competition continues through to Saturday at Shalom Park.
WSWM would like to say THANK YOU to all sponsors from the
2008 Western Canadian Championships held on August 1-3 in Winnipeg
Apple Bees- 1598 Regent Ave. WestNBS Apparel- 4-1575 Regent Ave. West
Boston Pizza- 2517 Portage AvenueQuiznos Subs- 1887 Portage Avenue
Canadian Nutrition- 1795 Henderson Hwy.Sport Manitoba
Coca ColaSt. Vital Shopping Centre
Dairy Queen- 100 Victoria AvenueSunrise Health Foods- 1555 Regent Ave. West
Grand Prix AmusementsTim Hortons
Kid SportThe Forks
Kildonan Place Shopping CentreUnisource Canada Inc.
McDonalds RestaurantWater Ski- Wakeboard Canada
Thank you!
WSWC NAMES 2008 WORLD JUNIOR WATER SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
These four athletes have been chosen to represent Canada in Lima, Peru, January 7-11, 2009:
Matt Weninger - Megan Collins - Janice Stevens - Taryn Grant
WSWC and WSWM would like to congratulate Taryn Grant from Winnipeg on being named to the 2008 World Junior Water Ski Championships Team. Congratulations and best of luck!
Winnipeg brother-sister tandem shines at junior water ski nationals
By THE CANADIAN PRESS Aug 2008
NEWMARKET, Ont. - Cole Grant of Winnipeg won the men’s junior overall title while his sister Taryn Grant claimed second spot in the women’s standings on Friday at the Canadian junior water ski championships.
Grant won the men’s tricks event with 3,670 points with Matt Weninger of Saskatoon second at 2,460.
"It feels really good to get the overall title," said Grant, 15, also second in Thursday‘s slalom. "This is what I‘ve worked for. The tricks was my best event, I came close to my personal best. I did the same routine I‘ve been doing for a little while. It’s nothing too flashy but I try to get as many tricks in as I can."
Taryn Grant won the women’s jump event en route to second overall soaring a personal best 32.2 metres.
2007-2008 National Wakeboard Development Team:
October 4: Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada announced the 2007-08 National Wakeboard Team today. Manitoba′s own Jason Bannatyne was selected to the National Development Team. To view his profile, and other team members,details - Congratulations!
Congratulations to the following athletes for their impressive performances at the 2007 Canadian National Championships:
Classical
Brett Dobel Boys 3 3rd Trick, 3rd Jump
Cody Campbell Boys 3 6th Slalom
Cole Grant Boys 3 3rd Overall
Geena Krueger Girls 3 2nd Slalom
Kole Magnowski Men 1 3rd Slalom, 2nd Jump
Open Men 3rd Jump
Leonard Asper Men 3 12th Slalom
Robert Bardzey Men 6 2nd Slalom, 1st Trick, 1st Jump, 1st Overall
Sabrina Dobel Women 2 1st Slalom, 1st Trick, 1st Jump, 1st Overall
Sean Vielhaber Boys 3 10th Overall
Tanner Polley Boys 2 2nd Trick, 3rd Jump, 3rd Overall
Taryn Grant Girls 2 1st Slalom, 1st Jump, 2nd Overall
Wakeboarding
Jason Bannatyne Jr. Men 1st Overall
Jess Polley Boys 5th Overall
Congratulations to all! For complete results, click here:
2006 Junior Worlds Team Named
(from WSWM website)
Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada is proud to announce that the 2006 Junior Worlds Team has been selected. Two independent skiers will be competing for Canada as well. Maxime Damour (Eastman, QC), first on the IWSF World Ranking List for junior boys, will be competing in Moissac, July 20th to 23rd, as well as Whitney McClintock (Cambridge, ON), first overall in the junior girls’ category on the World Ranking List.
The team will consist of Amanda Amos (Coldwater, ON); Stevie Collins (Toronto, ON); Erin Mielzynski (Caledon, ON) and Brooke Smith (Naicam, SK).
Karen Stevens (Morrisburg, ON); and Brett Dobel (Winnipeg, MB) have been selected as alternates to the team. In the event an athlete is unable to compete at the Jr Worlds, Karen and Brett may be selected to compete in France next month.
The team will be coached by Steve Bush and Matt Rini, and will travel to Lacanau, France (located near Bordeaux) for a short training camp, on July 13th. The Junior Worlds will be held in Moissac, France from July 20th to the 23rd 2006.
Victory:
(from WSWM website)
Kole Magnowski Takes the Jump Victory at the junior U.S., Open water skiing competition.
In men’s jump, Magnowski soared a personal best 206 feet for the victory. He was the second to last jumper of the day.
"I knew I had to go big on my last jump and the last guy wasn’t able to match it," said Magnowski, who reclaims the title he won two years ago. "I had been training really well leading up to this event so I was confident I could do well. The big difference this year is my approach is a lot better and I´m in digging in all the way through the ramp."
Two Water Skiers Receive Petro Canada Scholarships:
(from WSWM website)
Petro-Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), has announced $204,060 in scholarships awarded through the Petro-Canada Olympic Scholarship Fund (PCOSF) to 44 high-performance student-athletes and 24 coaches for the 2005-06 academic year. Included as recipients are Canadian water skiers, Kole Magnowski of Russell (MB) and Erin Mielzynski of Caledon (ON).
The PCOSF was launched in 1988 as a legacy of the highly successful Calgary Olympic Torch Relay. Since then over 2,000 scholarships have been awarded to high-performance athletes and coaches. "For the past 17 years, the Petro-Canada Olympic Scholarship Fund has been instrumental in providing Canadian high-performance athletes and coaches with much needed financial support in order to pursue their athletic and educational goals," said COC Chief Executive Officer Chris Rudge. “The Fund is a valuable high performance resource that is essential in helping Canada’s athletes and coaches achieve podium success at the Olympic Games.”
Recipients of the PCOSF were chosen by a special selection committee chaired by Olympian Diane Jones Konihowski (pentathlon, Saskatoon, Sask.). This year’s committee was comprised of fellow Olympians and coaches, as well as representatives from the COC and Petro-Canada.
Through the PCOSF, each athlete and coach receives tuition funding of $1,500 and $4,000 respectively. Additional financial support is also available for athletes requesting assistance for development opportunities such as training camps and competitions, and coaches with special needs.
Manitoba‘s Magnowski shivers but wins at water-ski nats
Mon Aug 15 2005
By Julie Horbal - Winnipeg Free Press
THERE‘S usually nothing like the home-field advantage.
But for Manitoban Kole Magnowski, performing in this past weekend‘s Canadian Water-Ski Championships at Winnipeg‘s Lake Shirley was a double-edged sword.
By any account, Magnowski had a great weekend in front of his hometown crowd. He took the national title for slalom in the men‘s one division and men‘s open division, and silvered in the men‘s one jump and men‘s open jump.
But according to the 20-year-old product of Russell, the pressure of performing in front of those who know you best, combined with the inevitable Winnipeg weather, was too much to make the weekend a complete success.
"I was pretty nervous going off the dock," said Magnowski, who won the jump event at the Under-21 World Water-Ski Championships in July, but came out just over a metre short of Ontario‘s Jimmy Townsend in yesterday‘s open.
"I think I was more nervous than I was at the worlds because here I know everyone in the crowd and there was a lot of talk of being the favourite."
Although he did capture the national slalom title, Magnowski said he would rather have won the jump event because that‘s what he likes doing best -- and what he‘s usually best at.
"I‘m usually pretty good, pretty focused before I go out," said Magnowski, whose best jump was 58.2 metres.
"But in my mind I was expected to do well, and coming off such a big win as the worlds, I kind of hyped myself up for a win."
Marie Helen Lanthier won the women‘s open slalom, Jeff Flynn of Nova Scotia took the men‘s tricks title, and women‘s tricks and jump went to Jenna Mielzynski from Quebec.
Sabrina Dobel, the only other Manitoban to compete in the "best of the best" open category, captured silver in the women‘s jump event with a 37.8-metre launch.
Both Magnowski and Dobel started their training in Manitoba, but Magnowski said that didn‘t help anyone when it came to fighting the conditions Mother Nature threw at the skiers.
"It‘s kind of a bummer," he said. "It‘s been nice in Winnipeg, but right when it‘s time for the nationals, it turns nasty. It got pretty windy all three days and it got kind of cold for being in the water."
Despite the rain, high winds and cold temperatures that come with the territory, organizers said Lake Shirley, which was built for the 1999 Pan Am Games, is optimal for watersport competitions.
No Skis, no problem for gold-medal skier
August 15 2005
By Ken Wiebe Staff Reporter - Winnipeg Sun
No equipment, no problem.
Kevin Melnuk of Toronto would not let a potential disaster get the better of him during the Canadian Water Skiing Championships on Shirley Lake this weekend.
Because of a snafu with the valet parking at the host hotel, Melnuk was forced to borrow some gear from a couple of friends but still managed to pull off a gold medal in the boys 13-16 age group tricks event.
"It was funny, I couldn‘t take it too seriously," Melnuk said yesterday. "If you freak out, you‘re just going to screw up more. One of the guys made a good point -- ‘it‘s not a competition if you don‘t face adversity and problems.‘"
But this type of adversity doesn‘t strike often.
Melnuk was running late Friday morning when he found out the keys to his dad‘s car had been misplaced by staff at the Sheraton Hotel.
"They couldn‘t find them anywhere, so we were trying to think what to do," said Melnuk. "I got to the lake and got a call from my dad saying they found the key. But since I registered late, it meant I had to go first off the dock when I should have been last."
So he borrowed some hot-pink skis from Amanda Amos and bindings from Steven Collins and off he went, straight to a first-place finish.
"It‘s a good accomplishment," said Melnuk, whose brother Bryan and father Paul also competed in the event. "When you work all year, it‘s nice to get a reward."
NICELY DONE: World champion Kole Magnowski wasn‘t the only Manitoban to have a solid showing during the weekend.
Cole Grant of Winnipeg was a big winner, capturing gold in slalom, trick and jump, which also gave him the overall title in the Boys 2 category, while Kate Scott of Winnipeg won gold in jump, silver in slalom and bronze in trick to take the silver overall category in the Women‘s 3 division.
BY THE NUMBERS: Water Ski - Wakeboard Manitoba executive director Chad Falk was happy with the event, which wrapped up yesterday, and said roughly 125 competitors took part. The last time Manitoba hosted the event was in 2000.
Ski stars leave big wake
Sun Aug 14 2005
By Julie Horbal - Winnipeg Free Press
WHEN one thinks of family oriented and cross-generational sports, few extreme and active sports come to mind.
At this weekend‘s Canadian Water-Skiing Championships held at Winnipeg‘s Lake Shirley, family ties and cross-generational inspiration are two of the biggest driving forces. More than 120 water-skiers from across the country flocked to the city to compete in trick, jump, and slalom categories -- with participants ranging from just under nine to just over 70 years old.
Two of the most prominent faces are Manitobans Ian and Bruce Reid -- 75 and 49 years old, respectively. Neither are competing, but both are old shoes when it comes to being up on skis.
Ian‘s late father is touted as the "grandfather of Winnipeg water-skiing" and Ian is one of the founding members of the Selkirk Seals water-ski club, the first in the province. Bruce is a 16-time national champion and the second-to-last Manitoban to place at the World Water-Ski Championships.
Both are members of the Manitoba Water-Skiing Hall of Fame and last night Bruce was inducted into the Canadian Water-Skiing Hall of Fame.
Twenty-year-old Kole Magnowski is competing this weekend to be the best in Canada -- although he‘s fresh back from being crowned the best in the world. He captured the men‘s jump title at the Under-21 World Championships in July and yesterday said it‘s people like the Reids who make feats like his possible.
"It‘s great for Manitobans to have guys like Bruce to look up to," said Magnowski, born and raised in Russell. "He‘s done a lot for the sport and younger people can learn from that."
Magnowski won the men‘s slalom event yesterday.
Both Reids say water-skiing in Manitoba is what it is today because of the family and multi-generational involvement.
Ian says when the sport first started in Manitoba in the ‘40s, it wasn‘t only a family activity, it was a family task to get out on the water. It was bring your own boat and build your own jumps -- and also make your own skis.
The generations of Reids would spend weeks soaking, boiling and bending the perfect skis -- many times to no avail. "My dad tried it once with ones that were seven feet long and two feet wide," he said. "You couldn‘t get them going behind a boat, but you could walk on water. I called them Jesus boots."
Things have changed since the days of the "Jesus boots," according to Bruce. "The largest jump back in the first stages of things was 32 feet. Today, you‘ll see some kids competing with skis that long. It´s all technically advanced."
Technical advances were not all they‘re cracked up to be yesterday, as a malfunction in the tow-boat‘s automated speed calculator forced Magnowski -- the strong favourite -- to redo a 192-foot (and potentially division-winning) jump. The makeup didn‘t go as well as he hoped, and Magnowski settled for a second-place finish in the men‘s 1 division.
He‘ll be able to make another run today when he competes in the open category, where all the weekend‘s best jumpers combine in one division to thrash it out for the championship.
City to host Canada‘s top water-skiers
Wed Aug 3 2005
By Martin Zeilig - Winnipeg Free Press
ALL the top skiers from Canada are coming.
No, they‘re not the downhill or cross-country crowd.
They‘ll be competing in the 2005 Canadian Water Ski Championships Aug. 11-14 at Water Ski - Wakeboard Manitoba‘s tournament and training site at 365 Murdock Rd. in Transcona.
"About 150 athletes and coaches will be attending," said Chad Falk, executive director of Water Ski - Wakeboard Manitoba.
The manmade facility is 810 metres long, 90 metres wide and up to 2.7 metres deep. Besides the Pan Am Games, the site has played host to other major events, including the 2000 Canadian Water Ski Championships and the 2004 Western Canadian championships. It even filled in as the venue for the recent dragon boat races, which had to be moved from The Forks due to high water levels on the Red River.
Falk said that former Selkirk resident Bruce Reid, who learned to water-ski on the Red River with the Selkirk Seals Club, is one of two athletes who will be inducted into the Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada Hall of Fame during the championships. Reid -- who is now an orthopedic surgeon in Jerseyville, Ill. -- competed in 19 national championships and at six world water-skiing championships and six Pan Am championships. He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
"It was exciting to ski for Canada in the 1970s. We had such a great team and we kept a winning tradition that was started by guys like Clint Ward," Reid said in a media release. "Being inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame means I finally get to say ‘Thank you‘ to everybody."
Falk said that Ward, of Hudson, Que., is being nominated for the Hall of Fame in the builder category.
"There will be a special banquet and induction ceremony in a big tent on site," he said.
Spectators should get a lot of thrills from the competition.
"For each age category, there are three events -- the jump, trick and slalom," said Falk.
In the jump event, competitors go over a ramp at three different heights -- 1.5 metres, 1.65 metres, 1.85 metres -- according to their age group. During the slalom, skiers go through a course of six buoys.
"On each pass through the course, the tow rope gets shorter and the speed of the boat increases," said Falk, adding that the athletes wear different types of skis for all three events.
In the trick event, skiers use one short ski -- and do 360-degree turns, flips and various manoeuvres with their feet in the handle of the tow rope.
"On Sunday (Aug. 14), the men‘s and women‘s Canadian Open takes place. All the winners of all the categories will compete," says Falk, adding that a number of Manitoba skiers -- including Kole Magnowski, Taryn Grant and Cole Grant -- will be competing.
"This national championship is to improve the skiers‘ national ratings for chances at joining our national team for next season," Falk said. "We‘re encouraging the public to attend. There‘s free admission and parking. It‘s a chance to see an exciting sport. Canadians are known to be the top in the world in all three events."
Manitoban wins world gold at water-ski championships
Tue Jul 19 2005
By Chris Cariou - Winnipeg Free Press
THEY were still cleaning up yesterday from a reported tornado at Water-Ski Manitoba‘s facility at Shirley Lake, part of that wicked weather system that lashed southern Manitoba overnight Saturday.
But halfway around the world, a Manitoban was making his own kind of thunder and a splash not seen in this province in some 30 years.
Twenty-year-old Kole Magnowski of Russell won the gold medal in men‘s jumping at the 2005 Under-21 World Water-Skiing Championships in Feldberg, Germany on Sunday, flying 58.20 metres in the last jump of the day to beat Australia‘s Mitchell Cockburn (57.50 metres) and Britain‘s Stephen Critchley (55.60).
It‘s believed to be the first time since the 1970s that a Manitoban has claimed a world title.
"It was pretty exciting," a very tired Magnowski said late last night (2 a.m. German time, following an eight-hour drive from Berlin to Duisberg, the site of the World Games). Only last year, he had won the Pan Am Championships jump event and his personal best jump was 204 feet, some 13 feet -- about four metres -- longer than his winning jump in Germany.
"It was good to win that (Pan Ams) but this is the big deal, this puts my name on the map," he added. "I‘m thinking they‘ll be pretty proud of me back in Russell. It‘s cool. It‘s awesome."
Magnowski said there was a lot of pressure on him in that final jump. He had entered the competition ranked fifth in the world. But he had a couple of days -- and six practice runs -- to get used to the site. He jumped 57.90 in the preliminaries to lead going into the finals, and on Sunday he was the last jumper to hit the water.
Cockburn had a big jump right before him and while Magnowski‘s winning jump was considerably short of his personal best, it was a good distance considering the conditions, he said. He attributed his gold medal to simply training hard and knowing where he‘d have to cut to have the right timing.
Magnowski finished 11th overall and said soaring almost 60 metres in the air is "pretty much the best feeling there is." Jason McClintock of Cambridge, Ont., won two gold medals at the event. Magnowski, who plans to make water-skiing his career once he graduates from Arizona State University, said he was still feeling the aftershock of winning
"It‘s pretty exciting," said Magnowski‘s mom, Keneen, from Russell yesterday. "He was pretty thrilled just to go. So he‘s very excited to win the gold."
She said Kole learned to water-ski at age six from his dad Tom and most of his early skiing was done at Silver Beach near Russell. He eventually hooked up with Water-Ski Manitoba and now attends Arizona State University, where he‘s a member of the ski team there.
"It‘s pretty big," said Chad Falk, Water-Ski Manitoba‘s executive director, who was still cleaning up at the water ski site yesterday. "I don‘t know if we‘ve had any Manitoban as a world champion since Bruce Reid in the ‘70s...
"It‘s a surprise, but he‘s been creeping up. He was ranked sixth in the world for under-21s in jump coming into the season. He did beat the other five he was competing against. But it‘s still a nice surprise."
Magnowski was asked to stay in Germany to compete for Canada at the World Games, an event involving non-Olympic sports. He then returns to Winnipeg where he coaches and competes for the Water-Ski Manitoba provincial team, which is currently gearing up for the 2005 Canadian championships slated for Winnipeg from Aug. 11-14.
Water skier strikes gold in Germany
Winnipeg Sun
Mon, July 18, 2005
By Glen Dawkins, Staff Reporter
Russell‘s Kole Magnowski led from start to finish to capture the men‘s jump final yesterday at the Under-21 World Water Skiing Championships in Feldberg, Germany.
Magnowski was the top qualifier Saturday and held off Australia‘s Mitchell Cockburn for the gold medal. He finished 11th overall and was 11th in the men‘s slalom on Saturday.
Water Ski and Wakeboard Male/Female Athletes of the Year
Press Release - By Chad Falk (from WSWM website)
Water Ski - Wakeboard Manitoba held its annual Awards and Appreciation Evening on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at Stony Mountain Ski Hill to recognize the accomplishments of athletes and volunteers. Following an evening of skiing and snowboarding, WSM presented awards for Female and Male Athlete of the Year, Most Improved Athlete and Junior Athlete of the Year.
Kole Magnowski, from Russell, was the recipient of the WSM Male Water Ski Athlete of the Year. Kole‘s outstanding 2004 season was highlighted by a Gold and Silver medal performance at the 2004 Pan-Am Water Ski Championships in Lima, Peru.
Tayrn Grant of Winnipeg, was the recipient of the WSM Female Water Ski Athlete of the Year. Taryn‘s season included 3 Golds and 1st overall at the WSM Water Ski Provincial Championships as well as 3 Golds and 1st overall at the 2004 Canadian Water Ski Championships in Abbostford, BC.
The WSM Male Wakeboard Athlete of the Year was awarded to 10 year-old Jess Polley of East. St. Paul. Jess was the Jr. Boy‘s Provincial Wakeboard Champion and was also the 2004 National Boy’s 1 Division Wakeboard Champion.
Tressa Main of Winnipeg was the recipient of the WSM Female Wakeboard Athlete of the Year. Tressa recently competed at the 2004 WWA World Wakeboard Championships in Seville, Spain and finished sixth overall in the Women‘s Divison. Tressa was also the 2004 Manitoba Provincial and 2004 National Wakeboard Champion in the Women’s Divison.
Sean Vielhaber, of Lockport, received the WSM Most Improved Athlete. This award is determined by mathematically comparing the athlete‘s results from the previous year to the current season. Sean showed a huge improvement in 2004, winning the Gold in Jump in the Boy‘s 2 Division at both the Provincial and National Water Ski Championships.
The Junior Athlete of the Year was awarded to water skier Cole Grant of Winnipeg. Cole was the Overall Champion in the Boy‘s 2 Division at both Provincials and Nationals in 2004.
Provincial Team members were also presented with WSM Back packs to recognize their achievement of representing Manitoba at the Western Canadian Water Ski Championships and/or the National Water Ski Championships.
Congratulations to all the athletes!
A presentation was also made to Tom Grant who took home the WSM Volunteer of the Year Award. Many thanks go out to Tom for his dedication as a volunteer official, boat driver and endless work at the WSM Tournament and Training Facility.
If you require further information please contact Chad Falk at 925-5700.
Ride a Wake
Two Winnipeggers are among the world‘s best wakeboarders, using the Red River to practice this combination of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding
Winnipeg Free Press
Sat. October 30, 2004
By Cheryl Binning
In the typical surfing movie, the young guys or girls pack their bags and head off to some exotic locale where they can ride the waves year round.
Take Endless Summer, the classic surfing film from the late ‘60s, for example, where two young surfers travel around the world seeking the perfect wave, keeping winter forever at bay. Or more recently, the 2002 movie Blue Crush, where Kate Bosworth takes off to Hawaii to live out her surfing dreams.
So it may be surprising to find out that a Winnipeg couple is making waves right here in the city – proving that even in a place with a long, harsh winter, you can still be among the world‘s top competitors in a water sport dominated by athletes from the Florida Coast.
Tressa Main and her fiancé, Duncan Jessiman, aren‘t surfers per se, but they are two of Manitoba‘s most skilled wakeboarders – a close cousin to surfing. And just last week they proved that they are also among the world‘s best.
The pair both placed in the top 10 at the World Wakeboard Championships, Oct.14 to 17 in Seville, Spain, where wakeboarders from 27 different countries were represented.
Main finished sixth overall in the women‘s division and Jessiman placed eighth in the men‘s master division.
“The United States really monopolizes the competition – they have Florida where you can wakeboard all year long,” explains 31 year old Main.
“That‘s where you go if you are really serious about the sport.” But the couple doesn‘t have any plans to head south. Quite the opposite – Main and Jessiman are aiming to turn Winnipeg into a wakeboarding hot spot.
We may not have year-round summer, but we have a river within walking distance. And riders don‘t worry about the snow – they spent the winter practicing their jumps on snowboard ramps.
“Wakeboarding is really starting to take off here,″ says Jessiman, also 31, and one of Manitoba‘s first wakeboarders. He introduced Main to the sport when it was still in its infancy eight years ago. Wakeboarding is one of the fastest-growing extreme sports in North America.
It began in California, as bored surfers began hitching rides behind boats on calm days. Water skiers then caught on to the sport, and elements of snow boarding and skateboarding where added into the mix. By the mid ‘90s as the extreme sport craze really took off, wakeboarding began to receive international attention.
Wakeboarders are towed behind special boats that create massive waves. Using a unique buoyant board, riders use the waves as a ramp to launch themselves into the air to perform incredible jumps, spins and acrobatic flips that have earned names like tantrum, nuclear, indy, scarecrow, and hoochie glides – terms derived from skateboarding and surfing language.
“Wakeboarding is really exploding,“ says Main. “It is new, it is extreme, it is exhilarating and fun. You get a rush from it.“
While Winnipeg has the advantage of nearby lakes for wakeboarding, diehards and serious competitors try to get out on the water daily to practice their routines – which isn‘t easy to do if you live in the city.
So Main and Jessiman decided to make the most of Winnipeg’s Red River and launched the city‘s first and only public wakeboarding club this past spring. It‘s based out of the Redboine Boating Club. Now riders can practice daily, May through October – wearing a wet or dry suit, of course, to keep them warm.
"The river really is ideal for wakeboarding – the water conditions are awesome, plus it is so close by," says Main.
“The club is a way to expose more people to the sport and make it accessible for everyone, even if you don‘t have a cabin on a lake. We want to everyone to know you can wakeboard right here in the city.”
Main says interest in the sport is already on the rise in the city. In its first year the club has amassed 30 members, most of them teenagers through to late 20s, although kids as young as eight are getting in on the sport as well.
This year, more Manitobans then ever participated in wakeboarding competitions – 26 riders competed at the 2004 Manitoba championships, up from 12 the previous year, and nine Manitobans represented the province at the nationals, up from a mere three competitors in previous years.
And Manitoba’s biggest wakeboarding event, the annual Portage La Prairie Throwdown in August, saw 60 riders compete this year, as compared to 42 last year, plus more than 2,500 spectators came out to watch.
The approach of winter isn’t dampening the enthusiasm of the city’s wakeboarders, either. “We are all getting excited about snow right now,” says Jessiman, whose day job is running Winnipeg Water Sports on Century Street, which supplies all the cool clothing, equipment and colourful boards used for various water sports. Once the snow falls, the wakeboarding community trades in their water boards for snowboards, and congregates at Spring Hill or Stony Mountain.
“Wakeboarding is a cross-over sport, so if you are a wakeboarder, chances are you are a skateboarder or a snowboarder or a surfer,” Jessiman explains.
“In Winnipeg, because of the snow, a lot of wakeboarders are snowboarders. Really, wakeboarding is a lot like snowboarding. You are doing jump after jump off a wake that is shaped like a snowboard ramp.”
And all the city’s boarders – whether they prefer the waves, the snow or a concrete skating park – see themselves as part of the same community. “It is definitely a subculture. There’s a certain lifestyle to it – the people, the lingo, the dress, the attitude, the music,” says Main. “Its roots are in the surfing and snowboarding culture.” You’ll know boarders when you see them by their baggy pants, their penchant for hip-hop music, and most of all, their laid-back, surfer-style disposition.
Super siblings win gold at water-skiing event
Winnipeg Free Press
Tue Aug 24 2004
by Chris Cariou
COLE GRANT and sister, Taryn, were riding with mom, Michele, in tubes behind a motor boat the summer after they were born.
Their parents had them on skis by the time they had each reached the age of three out at the family cabin on Betula Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Yesterday, as they packed up their skis and hauled out their hockey equipment following a brutally cold summer of training, tricks and frigid water, both Cole and Taryn had gold medals around their necks after winning their age group events at the Canadian Water Ski Championships on the weekend in Abbotsford, B.C.
"It was hard work," said 11-year-old Cole, who added that while the cold weather was sometimes hard to take, it actually helped him with tricks. "I tricked really well and trick‘s the most overall points. The weather‘s been pretty lousy so when it‘s cold or when it‘s raining, you usually do tricks because you don‘t really have to see that well."
Cole and Taryn, 9, each won the overall championships in their age groups, with Cole finishing first in tricks, second in slalom and third in jumps and Taryn sweeping all three events.
Cole -- who wants to compete at a world championships like his Canadian hero, Jaret Llewellyn -- has another year to go in his Boys 2 category (ages 10-12) while Taryn will have to move up to the 10-12 girls‘ age group next year. Tom Grant, the kids‘ dad, said both he and Michele are teachers so they get the summers off and a lot of that time is spent at the lake.
"They‘re both very comfortable in the water and that‘s the biggest thing," he said. "They have to not be afraid of the water."
The kids haven‘t been able to do flips yet during tricks competitions but they do spins and tow tricks. In jump, Cole‘s best distance ever off a ramp was 25.6 metres. Taryn, meanwhile, dominated all three events in Abbotsford.
"She had an awesome Nationals," Tom said. "Both of them are very dedicated, very focused. They do set goals at such a young age and they do try to achieve them."
And with the horrible weather this summer, Cole and Taryn had to be more committed than most years.
"They were out there in all that cold weather," Tom said. "They skied the last two weeks of June that was just horrendous and they skied those weeks there not so long ago that were just terrible, training-wise. It‘s hard, it‘s supposed to be a fun, hot summer sport and some mornings they were out on the water at 8 o‘clock and it was only five or six degrees." In addition to skiing, both Cole and Taryn play hockey and lacrosse. In fact, Cole was on the provincial team that went to Whitby, Ont., this summer and came back with a bronze medal on the B side of the event. Taryn also competes in gymnastics.
"It feels really good because it‘s my first time winning overall at Nationals and getting first place and everything," Taryn said, adding her gold is a result of "practising really hard and focusing on skiing."