By Alex Youngblood
Florida Barefooters are not known for their resilience in winter, but this weekend, young and old braved the rain and cold temperatures to take on the water of Lake Grew in Polk City, Florida.
The 2020 Brrrfoot Bonanza set the water of Lake Grew on fire February 1-2. Conditions were spot on as most of our competitors skied in the morning. Although the air was “fresh,” as Ben would say, the water stayed smooth enough for some awesome skiing.
Saturday morning started off with some tricks and slalom, and then some jump in the early afternoon. Every competitor and official received a free “Brrrfoot Water Skier” stocking hat designed by Ken Reynolds and a free pizza lunch! Sunday morning started off with a second round of jump, followed by more rounds of slalom and tricks.
EVEN MORE American barefooters qualified for the 2020 Barefoot Waterski World Championships after competing this past weekend! Orval Cyr qualified for the Junior Worlds in the jump event with a score of 11.9 meters. Orval’s twin brother, Martin Cyr also qualified for the Junior Worlds in slalom with a score of 8.6 points. Both brothers are now able to ski in all three events at the World Championships!
Team USA and WBC skier Mike Sousa scored a personal best in the slalom event this weekend with a score of 11.1 points. USA junior skiers are ON FIRE this upcoming season! He also installed all of the jump course buoys in the frigid water with no complaints!
Click HERE for all of the Brrrfoot Bonanza Results!
All of our other competitors Mikey Caruso, Ben Groen, Alex Youngblood, Lexi McCauley, Brice Storman, Willie Farrell, Deanna Dean, and David Small got some good tournament practice in.
Ben Groen and David Small posted their first jumps since the 2018 World Championships and man, it was definitely “Boost O’Clock.”
Big thanks to Betsy Gilman, Ben Groen, Alex Matheny, Tony Craugh, Duane Godfrey, Char Portman, Bruce Walter and the “Bumblebee Sanger” who helped out tremendously to make sure the competition ran solid and smooth.
Thanks and CONGRATS to all of the fellow footers that skied this weekend! The next tournament is March 7 at Mills Pond in Fort Lauderdale. Eric Coryer will hosting that tournament with the Gold Coast Ski Club.
American Barefoot Club 