BARE FOOT'N IN BALA! by Dave MacDonald The 1995 Canadian Barefoot Championships had record numbers in both spectators and entrants making it the largest Canadian Championships held to date. The international field of competitors were treated to pristine water conditions and very enthusiastic fans that cheered them on over the entire weekend. This year's event was sanctioned by the Ontario Water Ski Association under the auspicious of Water Ski Canada, the now governing body of Barefooting in Canada. Bush's Water Ski Center in Bala, Ontario provided all who participated with an excellent venue for the competition. The site was carefully prepared by Brent MacDonald and his very energetic crew of volunteers, whose main concern was to make this the best tournament for the competitors and to promote Barefooting in Canada. The over 40 volunteer workers and 20 volunteer officials worked many long sleepless hours to make that happen. This was attested to by Paul Jurbala of Ontario Water Ski Association whose whirlwind travel tour brought him to Bala for some of the Saturday competition. Paul had a chance to witness first hand the action taking place on the water. Nancy Ann Irvin of Water Ski Canada stayed for the entire weekend and was thrilled to be part of this very memorable event. Nancy was impressed with the quality of the competition and the camaraderie of the competitors and officials. She was very impressed with the colour commentary made by Tim Carrol of New Zealand as he described in layman's terms, the method of scoring as well as all the action taking place on the water. The scorching sun of Saturday caused many of the 4000 plus spectators to seek shelter in the hospitality tent to view the action of the big screen TV as it was broadcast live feed from the towboat. Tim's kiwi accept also brightened the day of radio listeners as his commentary was also broadcast live over Muskoka's #1 radio station 'The Moose' 100.9 FM and CKVR television coverage of the event. We are sure that Tim will become the Howard Cossell of Barefooting and look forward to his future presentations on ESPN. The Junior skiers impressed everyone with their courage, determination and skill. No one in attendance will forget the effort put out by young Megham Russell, J.F. Richard, Collin Mitchell, Tyler Magee and of course little Julius Rosenburg; an excellent effort by all. The Mike Seipel Barefoot International Award that consists of one week of training and accommodations at their training center in Lantana, Florida, will be presented annually to the top Jr. Girl and Jr. Boy. The 1995 recipients of these awards were Meghan Russell (Ont.), and Jean Francois Richard (Que), congratulations and enjoy your training week. In the Men's I category, Muskoka-bred Brian McAulay burned his fellow competitors with a scorching slalom run of 13.3 wake crosses to set a new record on his way to capturing the overall title over Scott Solomon and Cam Johnson. Brian picked up the 'Lou Kipp' award for his efforts. Isabelle Verreault of Quebec earned her Lou Kipp Award by beating Jennifer Lassaline and Sarah Burrows in the Women's I division. Other winners: Women's II Kim Hall turned in an excellent performance as did Cathy Tulek winning the Women's III crown. What can be said about Karyn (Cromwell) Scarpa, the Open Women's Champion that wouldn't be repetitious. Maybe that this new mother climber the winners podium with only one child in her arms to accept her awards as National Champion once again and to collect $1,000. cheque as the tumbleturn Queen of the Labatt Barefoot in Bala Weekend. Men's II overall Championship went to Martin Remillard of Quebec who powered his way to the title over Ghislain Ontaya and Lee Spalding. Pierre Parent turned in a stellar performance in edging out Geoff Mitchell and Andre Lessard in the Men's III Title. Ever popular J.J. Verreault showed that age is no barrier in capturing the Men's IV title once again and displaying that this is a family sport that can compete in all age categories. The toughest and largest field of competitors assembled on the starting dock for the Open Men's classification Former Canadian Champion Ken Harper bad Knee and all pushed the young hopefuls to perform their best to win this year's title. Outstanding performances by Don Baker (Manitoba) in Slalom edging Ken Harper (Ontario) and Ryan Andrew (B.C.) made for a very competitive Trick runs. Then Gordie Croteau (Quebec) stepped up to beat Ryan Andrew and Richard Gray (B.C.) with an excellent trick run. With the overall crown still up for grabs entering the Jump competition Extreme Games Competitor Don Baker went ballistic. Trying to climb back into the overall lead and set a new Canadian Record he launched an Eighty Five foot jump only to loose the handle upon entering earth's atmosphere. Fellow Manitoba native David Nedohin managed to hang on to eek out victory over Ken Harper and Ryan Andrew. However, Ryan's consistent performance in all disciplines rewarded this young man with the Men's Championship over Ken Harper and Gordie Croteau. The future for Canadian Barefooters at next year's World Championships looks very promising with an excellent mix of youth and veterans; we should be able to stand tall on the winners podium. ULTIMATE JUMP COMPETITION With $5,000.00 on the line several American and Extreme Game performers entered this competition which had the spectators hanging on to their seats throughout. The inverted style of jumping has proven that man can fly and that audiences love to watch them try. This head to head event produced some of the best Jumping in North America with outstanding performances by John Kretchman (USA) Peter Fleck (USA) Don Baker (Canada David Nedohin (Canada) Tim Carrol (New Zealand) and Lane (Dawg) Bowers (USA). Lane's 87.8 foot leap allowed him to carry off the bag of loonies with six inches to spare over countrymen Peter Fleck and John Kretchman. Don Baker however, again launched an 89 foot effort but was unable to hang on, much to the disappointment of the crowd. Someone should show don what a pine tree can do for that problem. The weekend was wrapped up with the Canadian Open Championships pitting the top Canadians against all the rest. Peter Fleck (USA) put on a clinic as he churned up the water scoring over 5000 points on his Trick run to earn himself the Canadian Open Crown. The crowd so loved his performance that he was encouraged to do an encore. This was a fabulous finish to a very exciting weekend for both spectators and competitors. The organizing committee wishes to extend sincere thanks to all the sponsor that made this weekend possible specifically Malibu Boats, Martin & Cassandra Ford of Sun & Ski, without whose patience and understanding this event would not have been so successful. Special Congratulations to all competitors for a very entertaining performance and to all those volunteers who worked tirelessly without sleep to make this Canadian Championship memorable. To our Chief Judge, Bruce Lonnenberg and family, Jim Harper, Brock Cromwell, Frank Valle, Mike Terry, Rob Doherty and all of the Officials over the weekend Thank you for making this a very special weekend.