Sky’s the limit

By Emma Sun
WHEN Jack Christie took up waterskiing at the age of five, he and his family never expected that it would become so big that he would compete on a regular basis.
The 10-year-old Beaconhills College student comes from a family of waterskiers, including his grandfather and mother Josie.
While Jack skied with his family as a hobby, it didn’t take long for his parents to realise that he had a natural talent.
“Two-and-a-half years ago we realised he has a natural ability to ski,” Josie said. “Dad and I thought we couldn’t teach him any more so we made inquiries about getting some coaching for him. Eventually we got on to some people in Mildura, which is where we ski every Christmas and Easter.”
They enlisted the help of Gavin McMillan, a national slalom champion, to teach Jack the tricks of the trade.
Slalom waterskiing is where the skier uses one ski and is pulled along by a boat at high speeds through a series of buoys.
Since the lessons, Jack’s love for waterskiing has grown and he now enters every tournament he is eligible for.
“We were at Perth last year for the nationals,” Josie said. “We’ve been to Bridgewater, Mildura, Latrobe and Stoney Park near Port Macquarie.”
Jack previously held the national record for slalom in the under-10s division, with a record of 4@14 at 49ks, meaning he navigated four buoys on a 14-metre line at 49km/h.
“When I got (the record) I was so happy and everyone came up to me and shook my hand and congratulated me,” Jack said.
“I have got way past the national record in training but I was a bit worried to do it in the tournament. I was happy with the result. ”
At this year’s nationals, held over the weekend, Jack achieved an amazing gold in slalom, silver in tricks and silver overall.
“On the Friday he set a new Australian record of ½@13 and on the Sunday in his second round, he beat it again at 1@13 at 49ks,” Josie said. While his present division is limited to slalom and trick skiing, when Jack goes up to the next division next year he will add jumping to his list of events.
Jack’s partner in crime is his eight-year-old brother Bailey, who trains with him.
“We ski together a lot in trick ski and slalom,” Jack said.“We just ski together and have a laugh. We muck around and wrestle. When we ski together we have spray wars, where we try and spray each other with our trick ski and slalom ski.”
Bailey has already challenged Jack’s title, saying that Jack won’t keep it for long.
“Bailey is at the similar skill level Jack was at two years ago,” Josie said. “He’ll give his brother a good run for his money.”
Jack hopes to continue to do well in waterskiing and achieve greater results when he moves up a division.