Four British athletes will compete at the world’s most prestigious professional water ski and wakeboard competition, the Masters, taking place in Georgia, USA, this coming weekend.

They are Joel Poland (24), from Clapham in London; Jack Critchley (26) from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire; Will Asher (40) from Lincoln, Lincolnshire; Luca Kidd (22) from Weybridge in Surrey.

Tough qualification standards mean only a handful of the world’s best waterskiers and wakeboarders in each discipline of the sport are invited to test their skills against each other at this annual event. It is the competition every professional wants to win and is considered second only to the World Championships.

Poland – the Overall World Waterski Champion and world record holder - will be hoping to repeat his success of last year when he won the Men’s Jump title and picked up bronze in Men’s Tricks. He has qualified for both events.

In the Jump competition in 2022, he got the better of the current World Men’s Jump Champion and world record holder, Ryan Dodd of Canada, and the 14-times Masters Jump Champion, Freddy Krueger of the USA. Both will be at Robin Lake in Callaway Gardens this weekend looking for revenge.

Since the 2022 Masters, Poland has topped the Men’s Tricks podium twice in major professional competitions, most recently in April in Florida, USA.

He will be joined in the Men’s Jump by GB jump specialist, Jack Critchley, a former Masters bronze medallist in the event. Critchley secured his 2023 spot with a leap of 67.5 metres in the last qualifying competition, which was held in Groveland, Florida, on Sunday 21st May.

In Men’s Slalom, the veteran Will Asher is GB’s sole representative. A five-time Masters Champion, he finished on the podium in both 2021 (joint second) and 2022 (third). This will be his 19th appearance at the Masters.

Asher is a two-time World Champion (2005, 2009) and is skiing at his best despite approaching his 41st birthday. He finished the 2022 season ranked number one in the world in Men’s Slalom.

Each of the waterskiing events will feature just 8 athletes with the four highest scorers going through to the final.

GB’s youngest competitor is Luca Kidd, who was third in Men’s Wakeboard in 2022 in only his second appearance at the Masters. It was his first professional podium. He is one of 10 competitors to earn their place in the Men’s Wakeboard event.

The 63rd Nautique Masters will be held at Robin Lake, Callaway Gardens, in Pine Mountain, Georgia, from 26th to 28th May 2023.

GB COMPETITORS

Joel Poland (Jump, Tricks) - was born, and has his UK base, in London. He went to school in Reigate, Surrey, trains in Florida and at the Arena Club, Chertsey, Surrey. He is the current Overall World Champion (2021) and overall world record holder. Overall takes into account scores in all three disciplines of slalom, tricks & jump. Joel won the Masters Men’s Jump title in 2022 and was third in Men’s Tricks.

Jack Critchley (Jump) - was born in Hull in East Yorkshire and is a former student at North Lindsey College. He now lives and in the USA, training both there and at Hazelwood Ski World in Lincoln when back in the UK. Jack specialises in the jump discipline and, in 2020, he joined a small elite of water ski jumpers to have leapt more than 70 metres.

Will Asher (Slalom) - was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, and currently lives in Florida, USA. When in the UK, he trains at the family site, Hazelwood Ski World in Lincoln. He was the Men’s Slalom World Champion in 2005 and 2009 and won bronze at the most recent World Championships held in October 2021. He won bronze at the Masters in 2022 and finished last season ranked number one in the world in men’s slalom. He is the European record holder in Men’s Slalom.

Luca Kidd (Wakeboarding) - was born in Maidstone, Kent, and went to St Michael’s School in Sevenoaks until the age of 13. His family moved to Weybridge in Surrey and he attended Box Hill School at Mickleham near Dorking. He has won two Junior World Championships and won bronze at the Masters in 2022.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

The Junior Masters begins on Friday 26th May. The main event starts on Saturday with the finals on Sunday. More information and the schedule of events can be found at masterswaterski.com

A selection of photos can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers, as indicated:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ts5hnuic173r3nz/AAARw7kL-pxHZtg9-Uss2Kfsa?dl=0

For further information please contact: Jane Peel, British Water Ski and Wakeboard Head of Communications (in the USA, local time is BST -5hrs) on 07802 496927 or via email at jane@bwsf.co.uk

MORE ABOUT THE EVENTS

Jumping - This dramatic spectator event involves skiing over a ramp at speeds of up to 70mph, taking off and landing on the water to ski away. Each skier has three attempts at the ramp. There are no style points. All that matters is the distance achieved.

Tricks - The skier is given two 20-second passes to complete as many different tricks as possible. These can vary from a simple 180 turn to a somersault with a twist. There are also ‘toehold’ tricks where the skier holds the rope with one foot. Each trick is worth a given number of points according to difficulty. Points are awarded only if the tricks are deemed to have been successfully performed.

Slalom - The boat travels at a constant speed in a straight line down the middle of the slalom course. At elite level the speed is 58kph (36mph) for men and 55kph (34mph) for women. The skier, on a single ski, has to go through the entrance gates - a pair of buoys in the middle of the course - then virage from side to side across the boat wakes, successfully rounding six turn buoys before going through the exit gates.

Each successful pass results in the rope being shortened, making it increasingly difficult to reach the turn buoys. Eventually, the rope length becomes less than the distance from the boat to the turn buoys so the skier has to use body length and reach to round them. The winner is the skier who completes the most turn buoys at the shortest rope length.

Wakeboarding - Boat wakeboarding is like a combination of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing. The rider performs tricks over two runs while being towed by a boat. Judges watching from the boat determine the score, which is based on a number of criteria including height, style and difficulty of the tricks successfully performed.

British Water Ski & Wakeboard is the sport’s national governing body and a non-profit making membership organisation. All its income is invested in developing and protecting water skiing and wakeboarding across the UK from the grassroots to our top athletes.

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