It's only about a 45-minute drive from anywhere in the Fort Wayne area to little Van Wert, OH. Many people don't know there is a private, tournament-quality water ski lake there, right off of Highway 30. My family has participated in American Water Ski Association (AWSA) tournaments there over the years, and it's a fun site close to home. As a spectator, you can watch, for free, close-up events such as slalom-course skiing, trick skiing and ski jumping.
Owned by the hard-working and kind Jim McClure, Pleasant Shores is known by its water slide (popular with the children in the summertime) and trampoline where many of the trick skiers warm up and become airborne.
Fall is the time the collegiate skiers come out to compete, although there are some warm-up tournaments in the spring as well. This can be challenging and best suited to these young die-hards, because frequently, even though it's mid-September, this collegiate tournament is often plagued by rain, cold weather, and very windy conditions. It takes a college kid to camp in a tent, get up and ski as early as 7 or 8 in the morning in a choppy wind, and love the experience.
We went to watch the Great Lakes Conference Championships on September 21. Parents of college teams set up shade tents and bring food (what college kid isn't starving)? you can also find concession stands, ski stuff for sale, and commemorative t-shirts.
Teams from Purdue (we know folks on this team), Bowling Green OH, and other teams from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana participated in this tournament. Qualifiers at the different collegiate conference championships go on to compete at the collegiate regionals, which are being held in Decatur, Illinois this year.
This kind of water skiing is very exciting. A boat running 34 or 36 miles per hour, towing a girl or boy flying across a wake and turning around a buoy, head and shoulders kicked back inches over the water - exhilarating. You might be more thrilled with the jumping over ramps; youngsters flying 60 feet before landing on two skis. You might be most impressed with students performing timed trick runs, with spins, flips, and toe-in-rope-handle stunts. These kids are good.
Indiana is blessed with many good water skiers, of which lots of folks are unaware. On September 8, 2013, Nate Smith, of McCordsville, Indiana (near Indianapolis) set a new slalom world record at Ski Ranch in Covington, Louisiana, running 2.5 buoys at 43 feet off the tow rope. That length of shortened rope is six feet shorter than the distance of the 75-foot rope to the buoys, meaning the difference is made up by his six-feet two-inch body and arm stretch from the rope handle (not a lot of room to spare there, folks!) The 22-year-old is a world class, professional water skier who is sponsored and travels to compete in water ski tournaments around the globe. All of us Indiana skiers who know Nate and watched him grow up through the ranks love him, partly because he is just genuinely a nice guy and so supportive of all the local kids.
Most of us know water skiing as a past-time on big public lakes, which becomes difficult with waves from boat traffic and jet skiers running about. But, it can be a great family sport, and takes excellent physical conditioning and skill. I'm here to say water skiing isn't just for folks in Florida and warmer climates. There is still a slalom course on the St. Joe River near the bridge between Leo and Grabill, across from Riverside Park!
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