Four British waterskiers and a wakeboarder – among them two World Champions – are set to compete at the traditional season-opener, the Moomba Masters. The prestigious event is one of the toughest on the professional circuit and takes place in Melbourne, Australia, later this week.

Joel Poland (27) from Clapham in London, is the reigning World Champion in the waterski jump discipline and a former overall World Champion. He is the current and eight-times overall world record holder. At the 2025 Moomba Masters, he won gold in both jump and overall and bronze in tricks. At this year’s event, he will compete in all three waterski disciplines of jump, tricks and slalom. Each is an individual competition but the scores achieved in each count towards an overall score.

Slalom specialist Freddie Winter (36), from Wandsworth in London, is a two-time World Champion in slalom (2017, 2023) and the 2024 Moomba Masters champion in the discipline. Last year’s event was his first competition in more than eight months following a career-threatening injury. He finished just off the podium in fourth and went on to have a brilliant season, winning many of the major events and finishing at the top of the men’s slalom standings on the Waterski Pro Tour.

Jump specialist, 29-year-old Jack Critchley from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, is the third male waterskier competing for GB at Moomba. He won silver at the 2024 Moomba Masters and was fourth last year.

The sole female waterskier is Sanchia Outram (28) from Worksop in Nottinghamshire. She will compete in slalom and jump.

Both Critchley and Poland will also compete in the spectacular Moomba Night Jump, a separate competition that tests the skills and nerve of the athletes who launch off the jump ramp at high speed in the dark. In 2025, Poland won the Night Jump and Critchley was 4th.

The Moomba Masters is considered one of the toughest waterski competitions in the world. Unlike most elite events, it is not held on a purpose-built ski lake but on the tidal and often notoriously rough and rolly waters of the Yarra River in the heart of the city of Melbourne.

Moomba also hosts a professional competition for boat wakeboarders and Luca Kidd (24) from Weybridge, Surrey is on the start list. He made the final at Moomba in 2024 where he finished 6th.

As the first major competition of the year, Moomba is a good indicator of how well the off-season training has gone for the world’s best waterskiers and wakeboarders.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Moomba Masters is one of the world’s classic annual waterski and wakeboard competitions. The 65th edition will take place on the Yarra River in Melbourne from Saturday 7th to Monday 9th March. It is part of the Moomba Festival which draws tens of thousands of people to the riverfront for five days during Australia’s long Labour Day weekend.

Live scoring for the Moomba Masters waterski event will be at https://www.iwwfed-ea.org/classic/26AUS131 and for the Night Jump at https://www.iwwfed-ea.org/classic/26AUS999 You can follow the wakeboard scores on the WWA (World Wake Association) Rideline App.

Watch the livestreamed webcast at https://www.youtube.com/@MOOMBAMASTERSTV

For more information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk

Photos can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers as shown.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xjw145dipw1euh61jx689/AMlLQfH5wjcCYuqFImWurqY?rlkey=318ezjt246s3zbr5o6vzm0fue&dl=0

WATER SKIING EXPLAINED

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 the buoys. The winner is the skier who completes the most turn buoys at the shortest rope length.

Jumping

Water ski jumping is a spectacular high-adrenaline event which involves skiing on two skis over a ramp at speeds of up to 70mph, taking off and landing on the water to ski away. There are no style points. All the matters is the distance travelled and a successful landing.

Tricks

The skier is given two 20-second passes to complete as many different tricks as possible. These can vary from a simple 180 degree turn to complex somersaults 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.

Overall

In overall competitions, the skier competes in the three separate disciplines of slalom, tricks and jump and the combined scores in each contribute to an overall score.

Boat wakeboarding

Wakeboarding is like a combination of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing. In boat wakeboarding (as opposed to cable wakeboarding) the rider performs two runs while being towed by a boat, performing tricks off the boat’s wake. Judges watching from the boat determine the score, which is based on a number of criteria including the execution, intensity and composition of the tricks successfully performed. The highest score wins.

British Water Ski & Wakeboard (BWSW) 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. 2026 is our 75th anniversary.

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