U.S. Wakeboard Team Claims Silver Medal at Worlds

Polk City, Fla. - Led by the gold-medal winning performances of Cathy Williams (Orlando, Fla.) and Christy Smith (North Little Rock, Ark.), the U.S. Wakeboard Team claimed the silver medal Sunday at the 2001 IWSF Wakeboard World Championships in Sun City, South Africa. The U.S. Team improved upon its third-place finish at last year’s world championships in La Grande Motte, France, by compiling 375 points to finish second, a mere 45 points behind gold-medal winning South Africa.

Members of the U.S. Wakeboard Team were: Jackie Denwalt (Elizabeth, Ark.), Boys; David Briscoe (Winter Haven, Fla.), Masters Men; Chris Laske (Brighton, Mich.), Open Men; Loren Levine (Madison, Wis.), Junior Men; Christy Smith (North Little Rock, Ark.), Junior Women; Cobe Mikacich (Orlando, Fla.), Open Men; and Cathy Williams (Orlando, Fla.), Open Women.

"Considering the quality of competition at the IWSF Wakeboard World Championships, a team medal and three individual medals was an extraordinary showing," said Steve McDermeit, USA Water Ski's executive director. "Hopefully we can continue our pattern of improvement by winning the gold medal next year."

Williams (56.78 points) and Smith (64.22 points) won gold medals in the Open Women and Junior Women events, respectively. Briscoe (51.33 points) also earned an individual medal, claiming the bronze medal in the Masters Men division. Other top U.S. Team finishers were Levine (52.89 points), who finished fifth in Junior Men and Mikacich (53.11 points), who finished seventh in Open Men.

The IWSF Wakeboard World Championships, which was held for the first time last year, featured athletes representing 17 countries competing for individual and team honors. The world championships was sanctioned by water skiing’s international governing body, the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF), which is comprised of member organizations from more than 70 countries throughout the world.

USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the IWSF and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of competitive water skiing in the United States.