There was a silver lining for 33-year-old Freddie Winter from Wandsworth in London as he took his second consecutive runner-up spot in Men’s Slalom at the prestigious annual Moomba Masters event in Australia on Monday. Rob Hazelwood (23), from Lincoln, won bronze in the Overall event.

The Moomba Masters was held on the Yarra River in the heart of the Australian city of Melbourne over three days.

Winter, who trains in Florida, USA, and at Oxford Wakeboard & Ski Club near Dorchester-on-Thames, was also second in the same event at Moomba in 2022 and, once again, he was just pipped to gold by the current World Champion and world record holder, Nate Smith of the USA. Smith beat Winter by the smallest of margins – half a buoy. Thomas Degasperi of Italy was third.

Winter is the 2017 World Champion and one of the world’s best slalom specialists, but a huge upset looked on the cards in Sunday’s semi-finals. In rough water conditions and with a strong wind, he failed to run a pass that he would usually complete successfully. Fortunately for him, the last skier in the semi-final also went down unexpectedly early and Winter took the eighth and last spot in the final at his expense.

Rob Hazelwood competed in all three water ski disciplines – slalom, tricks and jump. He made the final in both tricks and jump, finishing 4th and 5th respectively with some impressive scores, including a jump of 60.7 metres (199 feet). It was enough to earn him the bronze medal in Overall, which takes into account the scores in all three disciplines.

The Moomba Masters is an invitational competition and the traditional season opener for the world’s best water skiers. It provides a good test of form ahead of what will be a busy competitive summer and autumn. This year, the bi-annual Open World Championships will be held in Florida, USA, in October.

Freddie Winter was born in Tooting in south London and lives in Florida, USA. He studied business management at the University of London’s Royal Holloway College in Egham, Surrey, and has an MBA from the University of Louisiana. He trains at Oxford Wakeboard & Ski Club, and in Florida and Greece.

Rob Hazelwood comes from Lincoln but spends much of the year training in warmer climes in Florida and Chile. He is a member of the famous Hazelwood water skiing dynasty and the nephew of the 1977 Overall World Champion, Mike Hazelwood. When in the UK Rob trains at the family site, Hazelwood Ski World in Lincoln.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

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

Photos can be downloaded via the link below. Please credit the photographers as shown.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/154v4gpp3zmxrtu/AAD0sQLE_O3zyMUt7GTxe4kTa?dl=0

Jumping

Water ski jumping is a spectacular high-adrenaline event which involves skiing 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 that matters is the distance achieved.

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

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.

British Water Ski & Wakeboard is the sport’s 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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