Happy Birthday Waterski

As Clint Stadlbaur reminded us during his speech at the Swiss Pro Slalom: Happy 100th Birthday to our sport! One hundred years ago, on July 2, 1922, Ralph Samuelson became the first person in the world to successfully water ski. It happened during the summer in Minnesota. Samuelson had already experienced some tow-boat activities, but he wanted to try something closer to snow skiing.

According to Wikipedia, Samuelson used a pair of boards as skis and a clothesline as a tow rope on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota. Samuelson experimented with different positions on the skis for several days until July 2, 1922. Samuelson discovered that leaning backwards in the water with ski tips up and poking out of the water at the tip was the optimal method. His brother, Ben, towed him and they reached a speed of 32 kilometers per hour (20 mph). Samuelson spent 15 years performing shows and teaching water skiing to people in the United States.

The sport of water skiing remained an obscure activity for several years after 1922, until Samuelson performed water ski shows from Michigan to Florida. The American Water Ski Association formally acknowledged Samuelson in 1966 as the first-recorded water skier in history. Samuelson was also the first ski racer, slalom skier, and organizer of a water ski show.