The 15th World Water Ski Racing Championships have come to an end and the new World Champions are:
Jason Walmsley (AUS) – F1 Mens
Chris Stout (AUS) – F2 Mens
Ann Procter (AUS) – F1 Womens
Tania Teelow (AUS) – F2 Womens
Jaron Fritz (NZ) – Junior Boys
Trudi Stout (AUS) – Junior Girls
CONGRATULATIONS – you all truly deserve to be called a World Champion.
Teams will pack up and go home today, after what has been one of the finest World Champiosnships we have ever seen. Not only has the racing amongst the front runners been closer than perhaps any other worlds, but the event organisation has been outstanding.
Emma Duckworth, Greg Dutton and their team have done New Zealand proud and I thank them and their large team of volunteers for everything. Officials have worked tirelessly in some testing situations and the IWSF Racing Division has learned a lot that will result in numerous improvements in our sport.
I want to thank Dave Bishop and Richard Partington of Australia who have shared around 25 hrs of intense race commentary with Brad Dutton and I.
Dave & Rich, your enthusiasm and character added so much atmosphere to this event during every single race. These guys also helped me with the hours of podcasts that thousands of people around the world have been listening to on each race day. In fact www.skirace.net has gone from 200 to over 5000 hits per day during these worlds.
Congratulations to every team from every country – you have just played a role in one of the greatest events that our sport has seen.
Yours in ski racing,
Robbie Llewellyn
