Another Linton in the national water skiing limelight

There was more than one Linton grabbing the limelight at the national barefoot water skiing championships held at Lake Inspiration, Otaki, last weekend.
Sarah Linton, 16, from Greytown, was always going to be a serious contender for the junior girls' overall title, which she duly won, but her first cousin Jeremy Linton also did himself proud.
The victory of Jeremy Linton, formerly of Carterton but now of Greytown, in the open men's jump was very much a case of triumph over adversity.
A New Zealand representative since 1999 and winner of the national junior men's overall title in 2001, Linton's barefoot water skiing career took a turn for the worse during what was meant to be a normal training session on the Ruamahanga River last Labour Weekend.He tore a hamstring muscle off his pelvis and it had to be reattached.
The injury did not stop him from competing for New Zealand at the world championships, also held on Lake Inspiration, in January but, not surprisingly, it did affect his performance there, something Linton readily acknowledges.
"Really it was just a matter of fronting up and doing as well as I could, I knew I wouldn't be at my best but it was worth a go."
Last weekend Linton wasn't sure what to expect as there too he realised his fitness levels were not as good as he would like them to be.
In fact, he confined his participation solely to the jump which he won with a distance of 23.3m, an effort which obviously pleased Linton although he was frustrated at twice beating the New Zealand record of 24.1m only to lose grip of the handle of his ski on completing the jumps which meant those jumps weren't counted.
"I lost balance coming out of them and couldn't hold on," Linton said.
"It was frustrating but it happens, there's no point dwelling on it."
Linton has actually equalled the national jump record in official competition but under the rules records have to be beaten not equalised to be recognised and that is now a prime objective of his.
"I know I can do it, if the body holds together it should come," he said.
Also shining at the national championships last weekend was Wairarapa College pupil Matthew Forsyth, whose third placing in the junior boys jump event with a distance of 9.5m remarkably came only one week after he had gained the proficiency which allowed him to compete in that competition at Levin.
Forsyth also managed personal bests in slalom and tricks and was awarded the trophies for the youngest competitor skiing backwards and for the most proficiencies gained in the past 12 months.
There was local interest too in the performance of nine times national open men's overall champion Bevan Kelly, who lives in Wellington but who coaches Sarah Linton and does most of his training on the Ruamahanga River.
Kelly had been skiing in the senior men's (over 35 years) division over the past year and it was only on the day before the nationals when he was cleaning his trophies to give back he decided to have another crack at winning the open title.
And he very nearly pulled it off, finishing second overall.
Interestingly had Kelly competed in the senior grade he would have had another four gold medals to his name and a New Zealand senior tricks record to boot.