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| ABC Athletes of the Year
Please join me in congratulating the 2007 ABC Male and Female Athletes of
The Year, Kevin Towers and
Elaine Heller. Kevin and Elaine have represented barefooting in the US
this year in different but fantastic ways. They will each be presented
with crystal awards at the USA-WS Awards Banquet in Polk City, Florida on
Saturday, January 26th following the Winter board meetings of the various
sports divisions.
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Elaine Heller at the Blue Moo |
2007 ABC Female Athlete of The Year - Elaine Heller
Elaine Heller loves to barefoot waterski and she
loves to compete. She learned to barefoot 9 years ago at age 8. She won her
first National Tournament at age 12. The thing that makes her a successful
athlete is her determination and work ethic. At her very first 3-event
tournament she caught a toe and wiped out half way through her trick pass.
Then, still holding on to the rope with just one hand, tumbled back onto her
feet and finished the run. Just four years after that failed run, she earned
three medals at the 2006 World Championships as a member of the US Team.
Elaine hasn't restricted her barefooting to just the technical side. In the
world of endurance barefooting Elaine and her sister Shannon's exploits are
legend. They have beaten so many MEN at the Endurance National Championships
that the tournament organizers actually developed a special "award" for
their "victims". For the last three years at Footstock, any man in the
open/pro division that gets beat by a Heller sister is awarded a pink
T-shirt that says "I got beat by a girl at Footstock". With over 100 men and
two little girls in the open division, Elaine placed 12th & 15th in 2005 &
2007 respectively. Elaine's accomplishments in Endurance Racing have been
even tougher on the men. In the 2005 Racing Cup series she out-skied ALL the
men in the series to win the coveted "last man standing" award in 2 of the 6
races. In her spare time, Elaine works on the family dairy farm, has a job
in town at the local convenience store and plays varsity basketball on the
home town high school team. She also enjoys playing saxophone in the high
school band. After graduation from high school, she is planning on a college
degree majoring in business and continuing to barefoot waterski
competitively. Elaine Heller loves to barefoot waterski and is our 2007 ABC
Female Athlete of The Year.
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Kevin Towers |
2007 ABC Male Athlete of The Year - Kevin Towers
Kevin has been a competitive barefooter since 1982.
Life’s road has taken Kevin in and out of barefooting from 1982 to 1998.
Kevin attended a 25th year reunion for the Eastern Regional’s in
1999, where he met his wonderful wife, Heather. They both returned to
competitive barefooting and the Eastern region gained two extremely great
members to our family. Since the rebirth of his skiing career in 1999, Kevin
has not looked back. Along the way he has set several National records and
won many National championships. Kevin won the Open Men’s Overall at the
2007 Barefoot Nationals. At this years National’s, Kevin broke into the Open
Pro ranks in the slalom division.
He attended the 2006 World Barefoot Championships in Adna, Washington to
support his wife, Heather as she skied as a U.S. independent skier. While
there, Kevin was quick to lend a hand to the L.O.C and tournament officials
with many tasks. He drove pickup boats, ran scores, took video to mention
just a few. Kevin and his wife Heather both have promoted the sport of
Barefooting through various new articles and T.V. spots over the last few
years. While in Adna they were filmed as newly weds on the water, the spot
aired on local T.V. and The Water Channel.
Kevin is always a BIG supporter to the ABC, whether it’s donating his hard
earned dollars to support the U.S. Barefoot teams or making some type of
barefoot memorabilia to auction off for support. I believe that his Barefoot
sign of the Blue Moo that was autographed by every competitor was the
highest bid getter at the silent auction!
Kevin became an ABC board member 3 years ago and is the current Executive
Director for the East Region. His goal is to rebuild the Eastern Region to
the stature it enjoyed years ago. He has recently resurrected one of the
pasts most successful ski clubs in the East region, the Wet, Wild and
Wonderful Ski Club. This club was paramount to the growth of the Eastern
Region back in the 1980’s. He has already started the plans for the 2008
Eastern Regional Championship, securing many sponsors and lining up many of
the details that you generally do in the last weeks of planning. This is
shaping up to be one of the best Eastern Regional Championships ever. He has
gotten verbal commitments to attend, from many old time skiers from the
region that have been out of competitive barefooting for awhile. His
sponsorships include plans to donate dollars to both the East Region and the
U.S. Barefoot Team for 2009.
Kevin is also on a mission to be a member of the, Elite U.S. Barefoot Team
in the near future, and I see no reason why he won’t succeed.
If you haven't had the opportunity to meet Kevin, you are missing one of
barefooting’s Gems. If you have met him then you've shared the friendly,
supportive nature of a true gentleman! Congratulations to Kevin as the 2007
ABC Male Athlete of The Year.
Dan Cummings
American Barefoot Club President |
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