By Jane Peel
Stop 2 of the Waterski Pro Tour took place on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June at a popular site for many of the skiers, Lake 38 in Quincy near Tallahassee. PBs and records have been set on this North Floridian water and it looked as if that could be the case again when, in round 1, Freddie Winter successfully ran the 10.25m line (41’ off). He scored 1 @ 9.75m (43’off), just half a buoy off his own European record.
The field of competitors was smaller than usual with some choosing to sit this one out after a gruelling qualification process for last weekend’s Masters. Notable absentees were Jaimee Bull, Manon Costard, Thomas Degasperi, Will Asher and Jon Travers. Even so, the start list was stacked with champions and previous winners at Lake 38.
There were only 8 women so all automatically went through to Sunday’s final after two preliminary rounds. The podium was a repeat of the first stop of the tour. Regina Jaquess (USA) took the victory with 0.5 @ 10.25m (41’ off), Whitney McClintock Rini (CAN) was second with 4 @ 10.75m (39.5’ off) and Allie Nicholson (USA) completed the podium with 3 @ 10.75m.
In the men’s final, defending champion Freddie Winter (GBR) was top seed with the highest score from the prelims and was last off the dock. He couldn’t match his performance of the previous day and finished 3rd with 2.5 @ 10.25m (41’off). Nate Smith (USA), making his first appearance at the Lake 38 Pro-Am, topped the podium with 4 @ 10.25m. He’s now won all four professional competitions he’s entered in 2022. Cole McCormick (CAN) was 2nd with 3 @ 10.25m.
Skier of the day (audience vote): Freddie Winter
Women’s strongest pull: Whitney McClintock Rini – 297kgs/655lbs
Men’s strongest pull: Freddie Winter – 411kg/906lbs
Check out the Waterski Pro Tour leaderboard at waterskiprotour.com