Waterskiing: Pair star in water world

Northland waterskiers make up half the Kiwi team to compete at the Under-21 Waterskiing World Championships in Florida next month.

Curtis Williams, 16, from Whangarei, and Toni Atkinson, 21, are among four athletes selected to compete in the events of trick, jump and slalom.

Williams has been in the US training since the end of June, and said skiing was a major part of his life.

"I'm the fourth generation of tournament waterskiers in my family. I learnt to ski when I was 8, when my great-grandfather was still skiing at 80," he said.

Atkinson, an Aucklander skiing for the Northland team, said she was training hard, rising at 5.30 each morning to go skiing, hitting the gym four times a week, and going to boxing and yoga classes, while also juggling university studies.

"I have been working hugely on my mental and physical self in preparation for worlds," she said. "I want to ski to my absolute potential without letting the pressure get to me."

Northern Region Water Ski Association president Glen Williams said the selection reflected the region's success, with Northland the top team at the nationals for four years.

"The selection is an awesome achievement," he said. "Especially for Toni, this is massive, it's the pinnacle for her."

Atkinson said she was addicted to the adrenaline, energy and joy the sport provided her.

"I love it because there is no other place in the world where I feel more at home than out on the water," she said.

"All the hard work, compromises, time, money and energy put in paid off. It really is a blessing to get to do what I love at a competitive level."

Williams has also been named in the Under-17 New Zealand team and will compete in the Ukraine next July.