By Jack Burden

Cast your mind back to 2019, pre-pandemic, when the waterski world still felt a little simpler. Ski boats were still under six figures, webcasts were homemade affairs, and Joel Poland’s bid for world domination was in its infancy. If you had to pick the next big thing in slalom back then, there was only one correct answer: Robert Pigozzi.

At 21 years old, with arms like tree trunks and a gold chain around his neck, Pigozzi could have been mistaken for a swashbuckling young baseball star – the national pastime of his native Dominican Republic. Instead, he channeled his strength into ripping tow pylons out of their sockets. His leans put even Freddie Winter to shame.

In 2015, he won the Under-17 World Championships, setting a record that would stand for almost a decade. That same year, as a 17-year-old, he finished runner-up at the Under-21 Worlds. By the age of 20, he’d already won his first professional tournament and became just the 12th member of the 41-off club (though many keyboard warriors would question the legitimacy of scores from that event). In 2019, he earned seven top-five finishes in professional events, including an incredible European tour run where he claimed a second pro title alongside three runner-up finishes. He capped off his breakout season with gold at the Pan American Games.

He finished that season fourth in the Elite Standings, making him one of only two skiers (alongside Stephen Neveu) to break into the top four past the unbeatable quartet of Smith, Winter, Asher, and Degasperi over the last five years of the Elite Rankings.

Yes, it helped that Nate Smith was sidelined for much of 2019 due to his SafeSport investigation and subsequent suspension, but Pigozzi’s skiing was the real deal. In 2019, he scored three or more at 10.25 meters (41’ off) eight times in professional competition, including on the notoriously challenging Yarra River.

Fast forward to 2024, and Pigozzi has changed. He’s matured. He’s married. He’s running multiple side hustles, balancing his entrepreneurial ventures with the demands of being a professional athlete. Perhaps the shift in priorities has affected his performance. Last year, he entered just four pro events, finishing 22nd, 15th, 12th, and 17th. He managed to run 10.75 meters (39.5’ off) only once.

At the season’s final event, he looked like a fish out of water. On his opening pass at 13 meters (32’ off), Pigozzi inexplicably pulled up narrow for two ball. Given a reprieve by the best-of-two-rounds format, he looked shaky throughout his second round, repeating the same mistake into six ball on his third pass at 11.25 meters (38’ off).

Even reigning world champion Freddie Winter couldn’t make sense of it: “I am honestly floored. I’ve seen a lot of stuff in waterskiing, but I would’ve put my house on him getting around six. He was cruising, but then suddenly, he’s pulling on the inside and narrow.”

Pigozzi’s form has been on a downward trend for a while now. He hasn’t had a top-five finish since 2021 and has made just two finals in the past two years. In the last five seasons, he’s recorded fewer scores of three or more at 10.25 meters (41’ off) in pro competition than he did in 2019 alone.

Perhaps there’s no way back from this slump for Pigozzi, once the shining star of world slalom skiing. He turns 28 this year, tied the knot, and the responsibilities of adulthood are catching up with him.

But at his best, no one slalomed quite like the strapping Dominican. When running late, he’d drop the hammer, with leans so deep he seemed parallel with the water. A boat driver’s worst nightmare (it’s perhaps not surprising his father is one of the most highly regarded in the world), he was the skier who made you think, “That’s how it should be done. If only I were stronger, braver, younger.”

Where Nate Smith and his many imitators make shortline skiing look effortless, Pigozzi at his best made it look like something anyone could do—if they were just a little more daring. His style harkened back to the power of slalom greats like Kjellander and LaPoint—raw strength combined with dogged determination. It’s the kind of firepower and excitement the sport often lacks today.

So let’s hope there are more chapters to be written in Pigozzi’s story. He remains one of water skiing’s finest sluggers.