Nationals
2024 Nationals – Mulwala
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at the Max Kirwin Lakes, Mulwala over Easter.
2023 Nationals –Baldivas, WA
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at Bonner’s Water Ski Park over Easter.
2022 Nationals – Mulwala
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at the Max Kirwin Lakes, Mulwala over Easter.
2021 Nationals – Mulwala
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at the Max Kirwin Lakes, Mulwala over Easter.
2020 Nationals-Mulwala
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at the Max Kirwin Lakes, Mulwala over Easter.
2019 Nationals – Moree, NSW
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at Moree Water Park over Easter.
2018 Nationals – Goondiwindi, NSW
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at Goondiwindi Natural Heritage & Water Park over Easter.
2017 Nationals
Nationals were not held due to a clash of dates with the Disabled Worlds.
2016 Nationals – Port Macquarie, NSW
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at Stoney Park, Port Macquarie over Easter.
2015 Nationals – Mulwala, NSW
DWSA held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at the Max Kirwin Lakes, Mulwala over Easter.
2014 Nationals – Darwin, NT
Disabled Water Ski Australia (DWSA) held its National Water Ski Championships together with Tournament Water Ski Australia (TWSA) at Berry Springs in Darwin over Easter. It was a great week of skiing and the two events worked well together. This year saw new skiers recognising the growing popularity of disabled water skiing in Australia.
Sharon Paterson was one of these. Sharon has worked tirelessly to promote the sport and it was great to see her on the water reaping the benefits of the hard work she has done to be able to compete. She is the only MP1 (the highest category of disability) woman to be competing in the world. Sharon competed in the slalom, scoring a personal best in the rounds. While she was not able to repeat the performance in the finals, Sharon received a well-deserved gold medal.
In the men’s MP1, two competitors lined up in the slalom, Vaughan Hogan was competing at his third championship while Rob Oakley was attending his first competition. Rob broke the Australian Record in the first round but Vaughan was able to go one buoy better in the final to claim the gold and the record. Rob was the only competitor in the trick event, marking just how difficult it is for MP1’s to master the water. While he did not reach his personal best he walked away satisfied with the gold and was heard saying something about doing the jump next year as well.
Three competitors lined up for the men’s MP2 competition. Jason Sleep from Victoria dominated the slalom with a strong performance. Jason Hills from NSW was second and Ian Hickmont of Qld was third. Jason Hills and Ian Hickmont went on to fight it out for overall honours contesting the trick and jump. Both tricked well with Jason on top but Ian triumphed overall in a close battle thanks to him jumping over 16 metres.
In the MP3 two of Australia’s senior competitors stepped up. Belinda Sidman contested the women’s slalom and trick events. In a performance we have come to expect, Belinda set a new Australian record in the slalom and also tricked strongly. Darryl Hoyle demonstrated just how talented, or crazy, he is by competing in the over 45yrs men’s jump and trick. The crowd was blown away when he jumped over 25 metres! Darryl competed in the MP3 slalom and showed just why he is one of the world’s leading skiers across all three disciplines.
One competitor who deserves a mention is Sam Bell from NSW. A rookie to the sport, Sam competes in the leg amputee category. Unfortunately, Sam injured his ankle training for the jump event and was unable to ski despite a brave effort in the familiarisation run. Despite this, Sam did not stop all weekend working to assist other skiers compete to their best and deserves a vote of thanks from everyone.
Finally, Glen Sidman was presiding over his first Championships as Director of Disabled Water Ski Australia (DWSA). There was plenty to keep him busy but the event went off seamlessly and Glen also deserves a vote of thanks from all those involved. He was seen leaving the event with a smile on his face so with any luck, he’ll be around for a long time to come.
Rob Oakley
2013 Nationals – Stoney Park, NSW
Wow, what a great Nationals this year! Stoney Park hosted us over the Easter long weekend with 5 Days of action in Port Macquarie, NSW. TWSA sure know how to put on an event & make the Disabled Division very welcome. Everybody was helpful & supportive and the NSW Division ran it very well. Both lakes were used, one for slalom & the other for the trick & jump events. Having easy access to both lakes made it really very handy for all skiers. On Saturday night there was a night slalom & jump showdown plus an AC/DC cover band afterwards. Malibu supplied the competition boats and were great to ski behind. They also had three new boats on display. Food vans kept everyone well fed and they even had helicopter rides!
Now onto the competition! The forecast was for showers with rain periods but the gods were good to us and gave us great sunny weather 80% of the time. It was windy at times with jump event being moved from Friday to Saturday. It rained most of Monday but luckily the Disabled Division had already finished competing by then.
It was great to see Ian Hickmott back on the water after 18 months in hospital. He skied well and achieved a PB in the trick & slalom events. He had been practising his passes while in bed for so long.
New MP3 skier Jason Hills put in a solid performance in his first competition and exceeded the world criteria in all 3 events.
New MP1 Skier Vaughn Hogan broke the long-standing Australian slalom record on Thursday and again on Friday. He went through the course at 34km then into 37km. A great effort!
Jason Sleep broke his own slalom record at running 6 buoys at 9.75 metres. He had the boat roaring along while flying through the course on a very short line! He then had to try the outer course as there were no more shortenings.
Scott Wintle put in a solid performance as always getting a PB in Slalom. It could have been better had he known about the rule whereby you have to stop after every pass or spin after every pass. Unfortunately, he was a bit tired after four continuous passes and needed to rest which the rules do not allow for.
Belinda Sidman matched her record of 3 @ 52km in slalom and was only 20 points off her trick record. Not bad for a year off the water!
There were several disabled skiers absent this year. Bushy Brown, Darryl Hoyle, Jamie McDonald and Robin Cook could not make it due to injury & other reasons. Noel was kept busy & tied up all weekend in the slalom tower and last but not least, Glen (JN) Sidman (Junior Noel) had big boots to fill but did exceptionally well in his role of Team Manager. He was kept very busy and had everything on track and running like clockwork!
The Australian Team was announced at presentation night and team members are now looking forward to competing at the 2013 Disabled Worlds in Milan Italy this coming August. So now the team has to hook in and train through winter to show the world we are the ‘Flying Kangaroo’s’.
2012 Nationals – Mulwala
Once again, TWSA made the Disabled Skiers very welcome at the National Water Ski Championships conducted over Easter at the Max Kirwin Lakes at Mulwala, NSW. The twin lakes were great to ski on and the weather was mostly great except for one very windy morning on the final day of the championships. Although numbers were down it was great to see Jason Sleep competing again running into the 10.75m line.
Robin Cook drove all the way down from Queensland to compete in the slalom event with a good first round and a consistent final round. He is now keen to start into the jump and trick events. Darryl also drove from Queensland but due to family reasons had to leave early. Jamie McDonald as always put in a solid performance with strict instructions NOT to break the world jump record. All competitors are now looking forward to next year’s Nationals which will be held at Stoney Park.
2011 Townsville
On Thursday 21st – 25th April the National Water Ski Championships were held on the Ross River in Townsville. The event was superbly run by WaterskiQLD and the Townsville Water Ski Club on behalf of TWSA (Tournament Water Ski Australia).
A small group of disabled skiers attended the event with several new faces which was good to see. Thursday was our first event and slalom was held at the Loam Island venue which provided great viewing for spectators. Belinda Sidman stole the show beating her own Australian record skiing into 52kmph on the inner course for MP3 women. New skiers Robin Cook and Ian Hickmott (MP2) ran their first slalom passes and ran into 43kmph (inner).
Early Friday saw the trick event followed by the Jump. These events were held on the river in front of the Thuringowa Riverway Complex where the Disabled Worlds were held back in 2007. Belinda again stole the show equalling the women’s MP3 trick record. Darryl and Scott both jumped consistently and Ian Hickmott tried his luck on a 1.5m ramp but unfortunately crashed.
In the finals on Saturday, Belinda (MP3 Women), Darryl (MP3 Men) and Scott (MP2 Men) won the slalom event in their respective divisions. Second in MP2 men was Robin Cook and Ian Hickmott third. Sunday saw the results repeated for trick and jump. Darryl equalled his Australian trick record. In the jump event, the ramp was lowered to 1.25m due to a strong headwind. Ian Hickmott landed 3 good jumps all over 11 metres at his first Nationals.
At the presentation dinner on Monday night the team was announced for the 2011 Worlds this year in Ohio, USA. The team is Belinda Sidman (Captain), Darryl Hoyle and Jamie MacDonald. Scott Wintle was unable to attend as his fiancée Eliza is due to give birth to their second child in early June. Good luck to the team in the States.
2010 Nationals – Bonneys Water Ski Park, WA
1st – 5th April…