Water skiers battle weather at Kai Iwi

The weather has been a challenge for organisers at the National Waterski Championships being held at Kai Iwi Lakes.

Strong easterlies and showers have played havoc with the 85 competitors gathered for the nationals.

Northland skiers got their first medals with a clean sweep in the Sub Junior Tricks. Nine-year-old Courtney Williams of Puhipuhi took gold in tricks with 620 points in her first nationals, while fellow Northlander Xanthe Adams, 10, of Kamo came second with 290 points, closely followed by Mitchell Williams, 7, of Puhipuhi, with 200 points and a bronze medal in his first nationals.

In other results, 14-year-old Landen Wade of Auckland tricked a personal best and pending NZ record of 5170 to take gold in the boys' division, ahead of Ryan Baldwin of Northland who also tricked a personal best of 4090. In third place was Ben McFadden of Canterbury with a score of 3260.

Another Northland skier achieving a personal best was Aaron Baldwin competing in Under-21 Men's with a huge score of 5170 landing a whopping five flips including the very difficult front flip.

Nationals chief judge Kevin Firth is officiating at his second NZ championships. He said while the weather had had an impact on scores, he was impressed with the high standard on show. "Landen Wade's NZ record was particularly pleasing. He had previously held the record. We still have all the open mens and womens tricks, slalom and jumps to come so we should see some good skiing then," Firth said.

Waterskiing is currently in a healthy state in NZ, he said, producing talented up and coming athletes. It was good to see already successful competitors such as World No 1 slalom skier Aaron Larkin from Hamilton continue to achieve on the international stage, Firth added.

The Northern region hosts the nationals at Kai Iwi Lakes every five years, and Firth was pleased with the set up.

"The lake is a bit exposed to the weather, but the event has been well-organised by Northland," he said.

Meanwhile, Northern Region Waterski Association president Glen Williams said the rough weather was his worst nightmare.

"After nearly two years organising the week-long nationals, this bad wether is heartbreaking as we can't really get anything completed except for the tricks, with the high winds and heavy rain," Williams said.

However, Williams said they should still manage to get through the busy schedule by the final day on Sunday, with the forecast predicting improved weather over the weekend.

Spectators are welcome to Kai Iwi Lakes, with some amazing jump, trick and slalom to come during the open division finals.