GOLDEN FALLS TEAM – SIMON DURHAM – DOMINIC JAMESON – CARL CAUTLEY – DARYL HIGGINS – DANIEL HEARNE

Here is a brief general report of today, Saturday, at the 2010 National Waterski Championships at Lough Aghery WSC in County Down. Well done to all our Golden Falls Skiers – and good luck in the Sunday Finals.

What are they doing in the long grass - checking the competition !

BIG CONGRATULATIONS to all 30 Skiers, Officials and Organisers who were ready and waiting on the Dock at precisely 8.30am today for Round 1 of our National Waterski Championships. The new pre-entry system really paid off. No last minute additions or deletions – just a totally enjoyable start to a great event. This has now set the standard for all our other IWWF calendar competitions in the future.

Our Driver Geoff Clarke kicks off the Slalom event

With a total of SEVEN judging cameras mounted on site, the Judges Room looked like a trading desk on the New York Stock Exchange – very impressive. The new Slalom Course, SplashEye and refurbished Jump Ramp also looked perfect. Well done Lough Aghery WSC.

Our Daryl Higgins and Simon Durham warm up for action

Chief Judge Stuart England and Driver Geoff Clarke kicked off with Slalom – and began with the U12 Boys. Young Daniel Galvin (Cork PB&WSC) set a cracking pace with a score of 0.5 Buoys at 55kph on the short 16m line. Yes, that was the U12 Category ! In fact this equaled the best score of his brother Barry T in the older U14 category.

Daryl gets back from his injury

Moving quickly through U17 and 55+, we then had some excellent performances in Mens 45+. Dominic Jameson (Golden Falls WSC) was first off the dock and led all the way with a score of 4 Buoys on the 13m line. Watch out for Dominic in the Finals tomorrow. It was also good to see Cormac Fitzpatric  (Meteor WSC) back in form again in 2^nd place with 3 Buoys on the 14.25m line. Mens 35+ also produced excellent performances with Chris McDowell (Meteor WSC) taking top place with a score of 1 Buoy on the 12m line. Daryl Higgins (Golden Falls WSC) came in second with 2 Buoys on the 13m line.

Daniel Hearne builds up his competition experience

Now it was time for the Open Battles. Diane Kirby (Meteor WSC) showed her consistency once again and came out on top with 3.25 Buoys on the 16m line. With our top seven Slalom Skiers lined up in Open Men, all eyes were on all seven as a mistake could pass the leaders baton to any in the line-up. Barry Galvin (Cork PB&WSC) was first off. As our unbeaten National Overall Champion, his weekend began with 2.5 Buoys on the 13m line – a very solid performance. Next came our National Record Holder, Rodney Watson (Meteor WSC). He ran the 12m line – and settled for 1.0 Buoys on the 11.25m line – to guarantee a great Final tomorrow. Jody Waterworth ((Meteor WSC), then set the cat amongst the pigeons !His score of 0.5 Buoys on the 12m line put him ahead of Barry Galvin and in 2^nd place. Watch out for these three tomorrow !Youngsters Mark Scott, Daniel Hearne and Liam Fitzpatrick showed great promise and look very much the future champions in waiting.

Another Overall challenge for Barry

It was just after the BBQ lunch when we moved on to Tricks. This time is was the U14 Boys Champion, Barry T Galvin (Cork PB&WSC) who actually set the highest score of all categories today !  Yes, nobody could catch him. His training in France last week really made a difference. His 4280 points score and spectacular Flips run left all in his wake. Barry, his father, clocked up the next best – in Open Men – with a score of 1530 points proving that apart from young Barry T, we are not really a Tricking Nation !

Rodney unbeatable again today

The day finished on the very impressive Lough Aghery Jump Ramp. With the ParaMedic crew on site, 16 Jumpers set their sights on their titles and in good water conditions, it was a thrilling afternoon. Robin Skelton (Stillwaters WSC), Geoff Clarke and Carl Cautley and Dominic Jameson and Daryl Higgins (Golden Falls WSC), all attended the Stephen Critchley Training Course this week at Golden Falls in County Kildare and performed well. (Daryl 25.8m, Robin 29.3m, Geoff 35.5m, Carl 36.2m and Dominic 37.0m) In the Open category, there was pride at stake. Our National Overall Champion Barry Galvin already had solid scores in Slalom and Tricks today and needed to impress in Open Men Jump. He left no doubts with the top score of 43.6m. With a slight tail wind, it was a bit testing but only Jody Waterworth could get close with 41.3m.  Again, this should be a cracking Final tomorrow – and GOOD LUCK to our Golden Falls Skiers..