The Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team is an amateur water ski club in Janesville, Wisconsin. The club participates in show skiing, which involves water ski acts that are choreographed to music and built around a theme that tells a story. The Rock Aqua Jays has about 150 members.
The Rock Aqua Jays ski club was formed in 1960. [1] That same year it was one of four founding member groups of the Wisconsin Water Ski Federation. In 1961, the club assumed the name "Rock Aqua Jays". [1] The club practices on the Rock River at Traxler Park in Janesville, where they hold twice weekly shows between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Rock Aqua Jays initiated the first national tournament of the National Show Ski Association, the Show Ski National Championships, which were held in August, 1975. [2] In 2025, they are set to host the 50th Annual National Show Ski Championships. The Rock Aqua Jays have hosted the national tournament in Janesville over 26 of the 49 times it has been held. In 2012 they hosted the first ever World Water Ski Show Tournament, and repeated hosting in 2014. [3] [1] [4]
The club was the first amateur team to build the three-high pyramid (1974), the four-high pyramid (1981), and the five-high pyramid (1993). [4] [1] [5] They hold the record for the largest pyramid in competition: 44 people (2003). [1] They were the first amateur American ski team to perform in the People's Republic of China, in 1999. [1] [6] In 2012, in collaboration with the Chinese Water Ski Team, the Aqua Jays set a Guinness World Record for the number of humans to water ski in a pyramid: 55. [7] They have won the national show ski tournament a record 23 times, and placed second in the event 12 times. The Aqua Jays have also won the Wisconsin State Show Tournament a record 15 times. They have taken the triple crown of show skiing 11 times, [1] and were named the National Show Ski Association Team of the Year 6 times. [8]
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.
Rock County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 163,687. Its county seat is Janesville. Rock County comprises the Janesville-Beloit, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison-Janesville-Beloit, WI Combined Statistical Area.
Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area and is included in the Madison–Janesville–Beloit combined statistical area.
Janesville is a city in and the county seat of Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the tenth-most populous city in Wisconsin. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area, which consists of all of Rock County and is included in the greater Madison–Janesville–Beloit combined statistical area.
Joseph A. Craig High School is a public high school located in the city of Janesville, Wisconsin. Craig, a part of the School District of Janesville, has a student enrollment of approximately 1,800. Located on the east side of Janesville, it is named after Joseph A. Craig, who was instrumental in attracting the General Motors Janesville Assembly Plant to the city.
The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 299 miles (481 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. The river was known as the Sinnissippi to Sauk and Meskwaki peoples; the name means "rocky waters".
Pyramid Lake is a reservoir formed by Pyramid Dam on Piru Creek in the eastern San Emigdio Mountains, near Castaic, Southern California. It is a part of the West Branch California Aqueduct, which is a part of the California State Water Project. Its water is fed by the system after being pumped up from the San Joaquin Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains.
Tanner Hall is an American freeskier.
Kenny Harrison is a former track and field athlete competing in triple jump. He won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.
Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport is a public airport located southwest of Janesville and north of Beloit in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. Formerly known as Rock County Airport, it is owned and operated by the Rock County government. The airport has no scheduled commercial passenger service.
The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NIT Season Tip-Off. Unlike the NIT, the women's tournament is not run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but is an independent tournament. Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in the promotion of amateur sporting events, created the WNIT in 1994 as a preseason counterpart to the then-current National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). After the NWIT folded in 1996, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the postseason version in 1998 under the NWIT name, but changed the following season to the current name.
Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Association for men's and women's nordic skiing, and NCAA Division I Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for men's ice hockey.
Mistie McCray Bass is an American former professional women's basketball player.
Bobby Brown is an American freeskier specializing in slopestyle and big air competitions.
The 15th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate. Located in southern Wisconsin, the district comprises most of Rock County and parts of northwest Walworth County and southern Jefferson County. It includes the cities of Janesville, Beloit, Edgerton, Evansville, Milton, and Whitewater.
Anna Espar Llaquet is a Spanish water polo player who won the gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. She also won the silver medal at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
David Noggle was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist. He was chief justice of the Supreme Courtof the Idaho Territory from 1869 to 1874, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Earlier, he served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and a Wisconsin circuit court judge.
Pliny Norcross was an American lawyer, businessman, and Republican politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He was the 20th mayor of Janesville, and an important character in the development of the city—responsible for the first electric power-generating plants in the city. He represented Rock County in the Wisconsin State Assembly for four terms spread across the 1860s, 1880s, and 1900s, and served four years as district attorney. Earlier in life, he served as an officer in the Union Army through most of the American Civil War and was described as the first University of Wisconsin student to volunteer for the war.
The National Invitational Volleyball Championship is an NCAA Division I women's college volleyball postseason tournament sponsored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports. Its original incarnation ran from 1989–95. After a 22-year hiatus, it was revived in 2017.