By Jack Burden

MELBOURNE, Australia – The 64th Nautique Moomba Masters International Invitational, the longest running event in professional water skiing, delivered another electrifying spectacle on the Yarra River. With its storied history and the festival’s raucous backdrop, no event in the sport draws a bigger live audience. And with it came the unpredictability, the high drama, and a new crop of champions.

The Yarra Claims Its Victims

The Moomba Masters is as much a battle against the conditions as it is against the competition. The infamous Yarra River played its role once again, dashing the hopes of even the most seasoned skiers. The cutthroat LCQ format and brutal preliminary rounds saw big names like reigning under-21 world champion Annemarie Wroblewski and experienced duo Elizabeth and Steven Island miss out on the slalom finals. Trick skiing had its own share of heartbreak, as reigning world overall champion Louis Duplan-Fribourg, along with several other top contenders, failed to navigate their way into the finals after a string of early falls.

Trick Finals: The New Gold Standard

Finals Monday kicked off with a fireworks display in the tricks event, where the women’s showdown was another chapter in the decade-long dominance of Erika Lang, Anna Gay Hunter, and Neilly Ross. Lang, already the Moomba course record holder, set the pace by rewriting her own mark with 10,830 points in the prelims. The final was razor-close, but Lang edged out Hunter and Ross for her third consecutive Moomba Masters crown.

The men’s event was an all-out war, where 12,000-plus was the magic number. Joel Poland, returning to the Moomba Masters after a five-year absence, threw down early with a score above 12,000. Jake Abelson, already riding high from his junior competition victory and course record (12,150), stepped up to take the lead with 12,230. Reigning world champion Patricio Font stumbled in his toe pass and couldn’t claw his way back despite a monster hand pass. Then came top seed Matias Gonzalez, seemingly on the brink of victory until he opted for a wake 180 over a high-scoring risk move, handing the title to Abelson—his first professional win. It also marked the first time in history that all three podium finishers cracked the 12,000-point barrier.

Slalom: A Legend Returns and a New Star Rises

Women’s slalom delivered a storyline no scriptwriter could have crafted better. The two favorites, Whitney McClintock Rini and defending champion Regina Jaquess, had barely survived the LCQs after early-round struggles. But McClintock Rini, skiing first in the finals, set a mark that none of the remaining 7 skiers could beat, securing her tenth Moomba Masters title and cementing her status as the undisputed Queen of Moomba.

The men’s slalom final was another thriller in what has become a wildly unpredictable discipline. Nine different winners in 2024 suggested an anything-goes environment in 2025, and the final reflected just that. Sixteen-year-old Damien Eade took the early lead, before Poland—showcasing his versatility—edged further down the 10.75m line. Then came Freddie Winter, just nine months removed from a broken femur, clawing his way into contention before local hero Lucas Cornale raised the bar to three buoys. It seemed a winning score until the wily veteran Thomas Degasperi managed a piece of four ball, setting the challenge for top seed Charlie Ross. The 19-year-old Canadian skied with a composure beyond his years, securing a full four and his maiden professional title, making him the youngest Moomba Masters slalom champion since Carl Roberge in the early ‘80s.

Jump: A Changing of the Guard

While the conditions kept the scores low in slalom, the jump event was an entirely different story, with personal bests falling like dominos throughout the tournament. The absence of Jacinta Carroll, who had dominated the women’s event for over a decade, left a power vacuum that was quickly filled by Brittany Greenwood Wharton. Making her Moomba Masters debut, the American put together a gutsy performance to fend off a strong challenge from Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya and secure her first professional title.

On the men’s side, the competition was stacked, but the weekend quickly morphed into a two-man showdown between Austria’s Luca Rauchenwald, fresh off a University World’s victory, and Great Britain’s Joel Poland. Poland, already having an outstanding weekend across multiple events, continued his surge by launching a monstrous 69-meter (226-foot) leap to claim his first Moomba Masters jump title. But he wasn’t done yet. Under the Melbourne city fireworks display, he capped off the event with a dominant night jump victory, soaring 68.6 meters (225 feet) off the smaller 5.5-foot ramp, putting an emphatic exclamation point on his weekend.

Moomba Magic Lives On

The 2025 Moomba Masters was a festival of breakthroughs and unexpected turns, a reminder that on the Yarra, past records and rankings often mean little. New champions were crowned, legends continued to build their legacies, and the world’s biggest water skiing stage proved once again why it remains unmatched in drama and spectacle. As the crowds dispersed and the festival wound down, one thing was clear: the Moomba Masters remains the ultimate test of talent, nerve, and resilience.

By Jack Burden

Water skiing’s coliseum. Nothing quite compares to the roar of the crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder along the banks of the Yarra River. Here, champions are tested, legacies are crafted, and the sport basks in the spotlight.

Moomba Monday, a public holiday in Melbourne for the annual festival, holds a significant place in the sport of water skiing. This year’s finals added another compelling chapter to the rich history of the longest-running professional water ski tournament.

A heatwave kept the crowds slightly lower than usual, as fans and festival-goers sought shade from the searing Melbourne sun. However, as evening descended, the banks were packed with spectators, especially for the night jump events.

In the trick event, the showdown between Canadian Neilly Ross and American Erika Lang ended with tied scores after the preliminary round. Ross stuck with a conservative run in the final, earning a solid 9,780 points. However, this left the door open for Lang to secure a comfortable margin of victory for her sixth Moomba Masters title, despite falling at the end of her toe run.

The men’s trick final promised to be a spectacle, especially after Jake Abelson and Matias Gonzalez set the two highest scores ever recorded on the Yarra River during Junior Moomba earlier in the week. The final was closely contested, with only 70 points separating Abelson and the reigning world champion, Patricio Font. In the end, a tight timing call decided the winner, giving Font his third Moomba title.

The women’s slalom event was dominated by the Florida contingent, with Elizabeth Montavon and Whitney McClintock Rini putting up solid scores. However, they fell short of world record holder Regina Jaquess, who claimed her first Moomba Masters slalom title on her first visit to the Yarra since 2012. Jaquess’ victory filled the only discernible gap in her long and illustrious resume.

Lucas Cornale, a rising star in world slalom skiing, made waves by becoming the first junior to run 10.75m (39.5′ off) on the Yarra earlier in the week. He continued his stellar performances in the open division, securing his first professional podium by beating seasoned professionals such as Thomas Degasperi and Corey Vaughn. Although Joel Howley set the bar with 0.5 @ 10.25m (41′ off), it wasn’t enough to fend off reigning world champion Freddie Winter, who claimed his first Moomba Masters title.

In the jump event, although the scoresheets may have suggested everything went to script, they failed to capture the exhilaration of the event. The women came out strong, sensing an opportunity to put pressure on an underprepared Jacinta Carroll, who was competing just 100 days after giving birth. All six finalists improved on their preliminary scores, some by several meters, but it was still Carroll, the greatest female jumper of all time, who took the win on her second jump with 51.8 meters (170 feet).

In an emotional speech following her 10th consecutive Moomba Masters victory, Jacinta announced her retirement from professional water skiing, sharing, “I started my professional career here in 2011 when I won my first Moomba Masters, so it was only fitting that I come back this year for my last professional jump event.” When asked if there was any chance we could see her back in 2025, Jacinta responded, “there’s a glimmer, and that’s why I sold my boat before this event,” marking an end to one of the most decorated careers in our sport.

The men’s jump final was equally gripping, with Jack Critchley and Pol Duplan-Fribourg posting solid scores over 200 feet but probably feeling that they had left the door open for a one-and-done Ryan Dodd victory. The 39-year-old Canadian stumbled, slipping out on his first two attempts before finally ripping off the biggest jump of the tournament on his third and final to win his fifth Moomba Masters jump title.

In the night jump finals, the younger competitors took center stage, with Critchley recording the biggest jump off the 5.5-foot ramp in the first round. Ultimately, Duplan-Fribourg emerged victorious in a one-jump shootout with Dodd, becoming the youngest to win a professional jump event since Critchley’s first title in 2017.

Overall, the 2024 season kicked off in spectacular fashion, with drama, intrigue, first-time champions, and record-breaking performances on the Yarra River. Once again, Melbourne has delivered an unforgettable event, leaving fans eagerly anticipating the next edition in 2025.