WATER SKIING - Northlander taking on world's best

NORTHLAND water skier Cole Atkinson will compete in the under-21 world championships in Chile in next week.
The 20-year-old skier who belongs to the Kai Iwi Lakes Water Ski Club put in some last-minute practice before heading off to Santiago on Sunday. Atkinson is the only Northland skier to have represented New Zealand at this level. Atkinson, a university student who lives in Auckland, uses the Northland club as his base. Over summer he coaches junior members of the club.
In September, as the youngest member of the New Zealand team, he competed in the senior world championships in Austria. His 55.1 metre jump at this competition was a Northland record and his own personal best.
Because winter had not allowed for any significant pre-competition training, Atkinson spent three-and-a-half weeks training at Bennetts Ski School in Louisiana before the senior world competition.
Atkinson's mother Janet said her son was hoping to make a podium finish in the overall points of the world competition and possibly in the jump event as well. The six-day tournament begins today.
Tournament skiers are required to compete in three events _ jumping, slaloming and tricks_ each needing different disciplines and equipment.
As a junior Atkinson has held New Zealand records in jumps and slalom and was placed fourth in the Asia-Australasian tricks competition.
Last year he placed second to Kyle Eades in the open men's division in the national competition held at the Kai Iwi Lakes.
Eades, a New Zealander, lives and trains in the United States.
Atkinson's younger sister, 15-year-old Toni, is to contest the Australian team title competition in Queensland in mid-January.