Our overcast morning has given way to some light rain. Here is the schedule, though we already moved through our first division.

I am a slalom skier. I can’t hide that the thought of strapping on two rather larger skis, and hurling myself towards a solid object on the water, scares the seaweed out of me. I was pretty comfortable with my fear, thinking that only the insane or amazingly athletic could ever consider entering a jump event.

Then my comfort level dissolved, as I watched the jump event at this years Eastern Regionals here in Penfield. Sure enough, first guy on the water to tackle the jump was Lou Abel, who was running in Mens 8 division this year. If I am not mistaken, I am pretty sure Mens 8 starts at 70 years old and up. While Lou couldn’t quite stick the landing, he certainly looked confident in what he was doing.

Just when I came to terms that Lou must have been doing that jump since before all of us could think about it, the boys came out. In jumping, there is NO official Boys 1 division, which would be under 10 years old. Well that certainly didn’t stop Tom Goodhue from going out at 9 years old. He wasn’t going to wait for the age of 10 for somebody to tell him he could jump, and joined the ranks of the Boys 2 division. I watched Tommy go out, again without fear, and fly 51 feet in the air.

Looking at the roster list, there was a lot of Goodhue’s on the board, so Tommy must have been surrounded by jumpers in the family and caught on rather quick. He must have inherited the skills to be jumping at that age. Just to add salt to my wound, I found another Boys 2 division jumper who was also 9 years old and was not a Goodhue. Quinn Haines went out and jumped an astounding 73 feet.

While I am still not ready to try my hand at jumping, I have a better appreciation of the athletes and the mental states they must be in to attempt the jump. Perhaps something happens out on the water that turns them nuts, but the sport has certainly opened up to a wide range generations.

I didn’t realize how much I would be running around capturing moments once this event started.  There are no pauses in the

action, making it a challenge to sit for a minute and write up ones thoughts.   I was able to come out for some of the day on Wednesday, which was a full day of practice at the pond for those who signed up.

I captured a few moments that remind us why we practice as Tim Reinken took his first practice jump of the evening, only to take a nasty fall on his head. Tim was alright, and got back up to take the rest of his practice jumps without incident. 

It is a harsh reminder of why we practice. While the sport of water skiing has become more precise and technical than ever before, every site, climate change, and environmental difference makes an impact on how we perform.

Head of the Palm Beach Training Center in Palm Beach skied today at the Eastern Regionals.  Chet Raley came out and ran in the Master Men division, which I am not going to pretend I know even existed.  Watching him run smoother as the line got shorter looked effortless from the shore.  I can see why he is the head of the training center.

I don’t know why, but I love taking pictures of skiers.  Perhaps it is knowing how hard it is to accomplish the correct position on that ski, and being able to capture it in a single frame will tell the whole story.

This week for the Eastern Regionals, I was not the official photographer on site.  That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to stop taking pictures, but the pressure was off a little to capture every pass.  It seems there were quite a few big lenses on site for the event this weekend, but the official photographer was Chesler Photography, if you are looking to picture that picture perfect photo.

Chesler was packing a D300 compared to my D200, which doesn’t matter much.  It is the lens that makes all of difference, and I must say his was pretty nice.  While I had the same zoom level, his ability to have the lower aperture level will give him that detailed resolution to make me mildly jealous.  Regardless of being out gunned and, I kept on firing and capture a few good ones.

Click on PHOTOS at the top of the site to go to the larger collection from the entire event.

Here is the schedule for Saturday at the Eastern Regionals.