List of Water Ski World Championships champions.
Water skiing is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires sufficient area on a stretch of water, one or two skis, a tow boat with tow rope, two or three people, and a personal flotation device. In addition, the skier must have adequate upper and lower body strength, muscular endurance, and good balance.
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.
Michael Hazelwood is a retired British water skier and a was the world overall champion in 1977.
The Water Ski World Championships is a bi-annual water ski competition that has taken place since 1949. Held near the end of the competition season, the World Championships are one of the sport's oldest major championships along with the Masters Water Ski Tournament and the U.S. National Water Ski Championships.
Andrew Henry Mapple was a British-American professional water skier. Competing professionally between 1981 and 2004, Mapple is regarded as the greatest slalom skier of all time. During his career he won six World Championships, 168 professional events, and set or tied the world record on eleven occasions.
George Joseph Cash was an American professional water skier. During his career Cash won four Masters, three U.S. Nationals, and two World Championships.
Richard Downing Pope Jr., better known as Dick Pope Jr., was a World Champion water skier and an important business leader in Central Florida. Pope was an important innovator in the sport of water skiing, including the development of barefoot skiing in 1947. He is the son of Dick Pope Sr., the founder of Cypress Gardens theme park.
Deena Mapple is a retired American competitive water skier. She is regarded to be one of the greatest female water skiers of her generation. Her Grand Slam Victory in 1987 - overall wins in the World Championships, U.S. Nationals, U.S. Masters and the Pro Tour - made her one of two athletes to ever accomplish the feat. She remains the only American to earn membership to the United States Waterskiing Team seven consecutive times.
Adolfo "Tito" Antuñano Morán was a former World Championship water skier.
Thomas Degasperi is an Italian professional water skier. He has won two World Championships, one Masters title, three Moomba masters titles, the Malibu open three times, the World Games, the European championships 10 times, the Canadian open, the Ski West Pro, the New Zealand Pro Am twice, the Atalanta Pro Am twice, the Mexico Pro Am, the Global Invitations pro, the Alizee cup, the San Gervasio Pro Am the Botas Pro Am and many more for a total of over 28 pro titles and over 60 pro podiums.
Regina Jaquess is an American water skier. She had won awards in the sport by age 13 and won medals in Water skiing at the 2003 Pan American Games. In that same year she won at the Water Ski World Championship. She won gold medals in Water skiing at the 2011 Pan American Games and for 2012-2013 was named "Female Slalom Skier of the Year" by Water Ski Magazine.
Julia Gromyko is a Belarusian-German water skier. As of 2004 she was the world record holder in the tricks and jump events.
Michael "Mike" Kjellander is a Swedish former professional water skier. He won the US Pro Tour 21 times, two times Masters champion, one-time US Open champion, 15 times European champion, 32 times national champion, two silver and one bronze from World Championship and one-time world record holder. He specialized in slalom and jump but was initially also successful as an overall skier. He is still the national current record holder in trick with a score of 7,760 points.
Sarah Louise Teelow was an Australian water skier. The daughter of parents who were water skiers and who operate a swimming pool business, she competed in the sport from the age of 13. Teelow entered events across the globe and won the 2013 Waterski Racing World Championship in the Formula 2 category. Teelow was killed from an atlanto-occipital dislocation she sustained in an accident during the 2013 Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic.
Nancie Rideout Robertson was an American professional water skier. During her competitive career, Rideout won the inaugural Masters and two World Championships in jump.
The following is the qualification system and qualified countries for the Water skiing at the 2023 Pan American Games competitions.
The U.S. Professional Water Ski Tour was an annual standardized series of professional water ski tournaments held across the United States and Canada. The tour began in 1984. Tour stops were typically held on public water in metropolitan areas designed to draw large crowds and were televised on cable networks such as ESPN. The tour ceased in 2002.
