Water skiing
Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires sufficient area on a stretch of water, one or two skis, a tow boat with tow rope, two or three people (depending on local boating laws), and a personal flotation device. In addition, the skier must have adequate upper and lower body strength, muscular endurance, and good balance.
Water skiing on the Yarra River in Melbourne | |
| Highest governing body | International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation |
|---|---|
| First performed | 1922, United States |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Mixed-sex | No |
| Type | Aquatic |
| Equipment | Water skis, motorboat, towline |
| Venue | Body of water |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | No |
| World Games | 1981 – 2017 |
There are water ski participants around the world, in Asia and Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In the United States alone, there are approximately 11 million water skiers and over 900 sanctioned water ski competitions every year. Australia boasts 1.3 million water skiers.
There are many options for recreational or competitive water skiers. These include speed skiing, trick skiing, show skiing, slaloming, jumping, barefoot skiing and wakeski. Similar, related sports are wakeboarding, kneeboarding, discing, tubing, and sit-down hydrofoil.