Natimuk Lake Water Ski Club grows and breeds success

Seven Wimmera skiers will make the trip to Perth for the the championships at Easter after qualifying for the Victorian team at state championships at Morwell.

It will be the first time at the championships for Nick Jasper and Regan Duffin.

They will be joined by Lucinda Taylor, Andrew Schultz, Will Robertson, Lachlan Schultz and Peter Smith who have competed before.

Jasper, Duffin, Robertson and Lachaln Schultz will compete in under-21 slalom events.

Taylor will compete in the under-17 slalom and Andrew Schultz will be in the over-45 category.

Peter Smith will compete in the over-55 division in slalom, jumps and tricks events.

Club secretary Mary Smith said the seven would put in some pretty intensive training ahead of the championships.

“They will be probably training two or three times a week in the lead up,” she said.

“We are really lucky to have access to Dimboola Ski Club because the conditions there are better to train slalom and we don’t have water in Natimuk Lake at the moment.”

The club will also send skiers to the inter-club challenge in Geelong on the first weekend of April.

“Then we’ll be heading over to Perth,” Mary said.

“Some of us are driving across while others will be flying.”

Victoria will be sending a team of nearly 60 skiers to compete.

“It is normally one of the most cohesive teams at the championships,” Mary said.

“Everyone gets shirts and uniforms and it is a great team environment where everybody makes sure they support one another.”

Mary said the club had continued to grow since it first sent three skiers to compete at the national level a couple of years ago.

“I think there is a couple of reasons for the growth,” she said.

“The first is that we are a very proactive club and the second is probably that we have Will Robertson who is a qualified coach.

“He is really passionate about skiing and spends time a lot of time helping the younger one improve.”

Robertson said it had a been a club wide effort to get more people excited about skiing.

“The ski club has just been going from strength to strength recently and has been taking off,” he said.

“I’ve always been doing different water sports but Peter Smith introduced me to tournament skiing and I sort of thought ‘why aren’t more people doing this?’

“Everyone in the club brings something different and they’ve been bringing different new people in. It’s just awesome.

He said he was looking forward to going to the national championships with such a large group of skiers from the club.

“It’s just going to be really good,” he said.

“The club’s full of so many good people and there will be a lot of families going over.

“I’m just stoked that it is all going so well.”

Mary said Robertson was one of the best skiers in the state and had been great for the club.

“Clubs need people him and Peter,” she said.

“It gives people coming through something to aspire to and see how hard work can pay off.”