As the saying goes, all good things come to an end. During the last weeks we have enjoyed a hugely exciting, frenetic and unpredictable stint of Tour dates which included an expansion into a novel continent, milestone anniversaries and deepening foundations. Appropriately, this wonderful leg of non-stop Tour action finished with a first on the Waterski Pro Tour - a slalom night final - in a country with serious slalom heritage. The UK’s Oxfordshire Pro-Am sent the Tour back to the USA with a bang.
When asked of hotbeds for high-end waterskiing, a casual observer would be forgiven for putting the UK fairly far down the list. The island nation’s infamously mediocre weather is not as conducive to watersports as the more tropical temperatures - and far less rain - found to the south in continental Europe. However, for whatever reason, the country has produced huge amounts of waterski talent, especially in the men’s slalom division. Indeed, since hosting the World Championships for the first time in 1975 no country has more men’s slalom championships (10, USA also 10). It also boasts 3 of the 6 multiple time men’s slalom world champions (UK 3, USA 2, Italy 1). Oxford Wake and Ski Club has been nurturing this talent since 2012, holding a pro event this year seemed the natural next step.
After an excessively dismal year of weather so far - yes, even by UK standards - the water at Oxford was 3 feet higher than usual, resulting in some challengingly rolly conditions. However over the course of the preliminary rounds both the men’s and the women’s field put up some good scores in order to qualify for the night final. Notably Sasha Descuns of France ran a very respectable 3@10.25m to take top seed with hometown hero Arron Davies putting in his best Tour performance of back to back 10.75s to take 3rd seed. On the women’s side Jaimee Bull excelled once more with 5@10.75m.
But then, the final. It’s fair to say all finalists would be, at best, unused to skiing under the lights after over a decade without a night final, while many would never have skied one. It wasn’t until 9.45pm and near total darkness that the floodlights were switched on for the action to commence. Apprehension was apparent, with a number of skiers vocalizing their expectation that the decreased visibility would lead to a feeling of excess speed on the water during their pre-set interviews.
Generally the first crop of women skied the best part of a pass less than their daytime scores with some cagey or safe skiing, depending on your perspective. That is until third seed Manon Costard attacked the dark and scored a quite amazing 2.5@10.75m, a full buoy superior than her previous best of the weekend under sunlight. This put serious pressure on the remaining two - Allie Nicholson, champion of Marrakesh last month, and Jaimee Bull, victor in the Italian and Monogaque events more recently. Surprisingly neither made it through 11.25m, resulting in Costard’s first professional win since September 2020. After oh-so-many near misses since, there was not a happier face in the UK. Competition, however, would arrive an hour later.
The men’s field followed something of a similar pattern. Will Asher, so adept at tough conditions, surprised everyone with an early low score as did Rob Hazelwood. However, a mid-pack triple whammy of completed runs at 11.25 left Corey Vaughn in the lead with 2.5@10.75m, ahead of Adam Sedlmajer and Thomas Degasperi on 2, with the top three seeds left. Minutes later falls from Davies, Joel Poland and Descuns resulted in an incredibly emotional Vaugh taking his first pro victory at 38 years old in his 16th year on the circuit. Both winners then were able to drop a monkey from their back; their seasons will continue unburdened from here.
And so, after the busiest period of the year, and over half the slalom Tour done, Asher and Bull remain in commanding positions at the top of the Leaderboards with 243 and 298 points respectively. Costards 2nd last week in Italy and victory in the UK has catapulted her into the top 3 with 138 points. Rob Hazelwood moves into outright 2nd with his 8th place finish just edging him back ahead of Cole McCormick with 122 to 118 points.
This thick and fast Africa-Europe stint has in many ways become the centerpiece of the year with its varied countries, lakes and the challenge for the skiers to keep their level high with such little practice. No doubt next year will be just as exciting. Looking ahead to the immediate future, the Tour takes a short break before a return to the USA, and excitingly the jump event, at the California Pro-Am in late August. This will be followed very closely by the Canada Cup jump event within a few days. See you there.
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