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| Born | 1971 (age 46–47) Minsk, Belarus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Water skiing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Julia Gromyko (Belarusian : Юлія Грамыка, born 1971, also known as Julia Meier-Gromyko) is a Belarusian-German water skier. As of 2004 she was the world record holder in the tricks and jump events. [1]
Belarusian is an official language of Belarus, along with Russian, and is also spoken in Russia, Poland and Ukraine. Before Belarus gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the language was only known in English as Byelorussian or Belorussian, transliterating the Russian name, белорусский язык Belorusskiy yazyk, or alternatively as White Ruthenian or White Russian. Following independence, it has acquired the additional name Belarusian.
Gromyko started waterskiing at age 9 and soon won several European junior titles. Since 1989 she dominated the cable skiing world championships. [2] After marrying Marc-Andre Meier, a German slalom waterskier and world champion, she changed her last name to Meier-Gromyko. The couple lives in Germany and has two children. Gromyko is still competing at the world level through her forties, besides coaching the German team and being member of the World Cableski Council and EAME Cableski Council. In 2004, she was selected as the Cableski Athlete of the Year by the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation. [1]
Cable skiing is a way to water ski, in which the skier's rope and handle are pulled by an electrically-driven cable, whereas traditionally a waterskier is pulled by a motorboat. The mechanism consists of two cables running parallel to one another with carriers between them every 80 metres. The carriers are metal tubes that can hook up tow ropes with riders. Tow ropes are detached and attached at the same time without slowing the system down, which is a main reason for its high efficiency. With a main cable of 800 metres long, 10 riders can waterski or wakeboard at the same time. The speed of the main cable can be up to 38 mph (61 km/h), and slalom skiers can reach much higher speeds. The most common speed is 19 mph (31 km/h), which suits wakeboarders best.
The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the world governing body for all towed water sports. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1946, it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole authority governing all towed water sports and has 91 affiliated member federations worldwide. The IWWF is also an affiliate member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and is one of the seven founding sports of the World Games.
