Join professional water skier Elizabeth Montavon for an inside look at what it takes to excel in one of the world’s most competitive and demanding sports. From early morning ski tuning to intense training sessions on the water and in the gym, this docushort captures a day in Elizabeth’s life as she balances her passion for the sport with the support of her family and fans.
But it hasn’t all been easy — Elizabeth opens up about the challenges she faces, including dealing with online trolls and navigating the bottleneck that’s holding water skiing back from reaching its full potential. Through it all, her determination and the overwhelming support from her fans keep her pushing forward.
In the spirit of creativity, progression, and just plain fun times on the water, the 2024 Herb’s Cup.
At the intersection of competitive fire and creative spirit lies Herb’s Cup, Radar Skis annual slalom event held in honor of our visionary, who paved our storied path, Herb O’Brien. This event allows us to illustrate our unique waterski ethos, a marriage of progressive creativity and full-bore fun.
The rules, while anything but traditional, are straightforward. With 8 minutes on the clock competitors do what countless skiers around the globe are doing on any given day; ski the most buoys on the shortest line possible. You need to run a full pass to advance to the next, but if you fall or miss, do it again until the clock runs out.
With the banks lined with the Pacific Northwest’s waterski faithful, the finals got underway with Jamie Calhoun. Having scored 3.5 @ 39 in the preliminary round, Jamie knew he would need to find a second gear if he were to have any hope of raising the Cup. Calhoun, to preserve time, opted for a 35’ Off start, easily running through his first two passes. After failing on his first attempt, Jamie found his way through a scrappy but committed 39’ Off and set the bar head-high with a solid 2 buoys at 41’; a score that would have real implications as the night wore on.
Jason McClintock would leave the dock next with a tall order in front of him. Having decided on a more traditional 32’ Off start, McClintock would need to run his first attempt at 39’ if he hoped to have enough time for a couple of shots at overtaking the lead. That’s exactly what he did: after running perhaps the smoothest 39’ of the entire event, Jason got to work at attempting to overtake Calhoun. After three solid looks Jason had to settle for a tie, another 2 buoys at 41’ Off.
If there was a potential odds favorite for the weekend, it had to be World Champion, Joel Poland. Having finished runner-up at both of the previous Herb’s Cups, Joel took to the water with hoisting the chalice squarely on his mind. After a 35’ off start that was more full energy than required, he re-entered the course and proceeded to run straight through his next two passes with his perfect blend of balance and power. Having used only half of his allotted time, Poland took four cracks at the leaderboard, each time coming up short at three ball, eventually flipping himself over the buoy and coming to rest only feet from the fans lining the shore. Another skier down, another score of 2@41’.
Top-seeded Stephen Neveu would leave the dock with a clear task in mind: somehow find his way to three ball, and the 2024 Herb’s Cup victory would be his. As the defending champion, Stephen has proved year after year that the best way to work the clock is to avoid it altogether. Taking essentially no wait time between passes, Big Nev quickly and efficiently worked his way through 39’ off with more than five minutes remaining. He wasn’t going to need it though. With a giant bullseye on three ball, he methodically skied his way around a full 3 buoys at 41’ off, earning his fourth title in the process.
In front of a setting sun, the awards were presented, and Stephen Neveu hoisted the cup yet again. “This one feels especially emotional this year,” Neveu addressed the crowd, “thank you to everyone at Radar, and thank you Herb!” His first sip from the cup marked the start of the evening and the close of the 8th Annual Herb’s Cup.
Welcome to the 1st stop of the 2024 World Water Skier Overall Tour: the WWS Salmsee Cup in Linz, Austria, on July 27-28. Watch as the world’s top water skiers compete in the Slalom, Trick, and Jump disciplines, kicking off the tour with intense action and spectacular performances. Athletes will earn crucial Tour Points, setting the stage for the journey to become the 2024 WWS Overall Tour Champions. Next, join us in Saskatoon, Canada, for the second exciting stop on August 28-29. Enjoy the excitement and be inspired by these incredible competitors!
How do you navigate running a brick and mortar pro shop in today’s time where Amazon seems to run everything eCommerce? Bill Porter is the founder and owner of Performance Ski and Surf, located in Orlando, Florida. Being in the heart of the towed watersports scene, Bill’s shop is the “go to” pro-shop for everything wake and watersports. Although his mom initially tried to get people to convince Bill to not open Performance, he did it anyways, and has had a profound influence on both pro riders and beginners alike. Herb O’Brien’s influence, wakeboard tech, online operation vs. brick and mortar, customer service, the most important innovation wakeboarding has seen, selling snow gear, Nautique vs. Mastercraft, and the future of wakeboarding and Performance Ski and Surf. Hear all that and much more in Episode 60 of the Grab Matters Podcast!
Get into the highs and lows of water ski jumping with Ryan Dodd! Join Aj Ramos as he sits down with the incredible athlete to discuss what he’s learned and gained from the sport, and how he applies those lessons to his personal life.
Freddie Winter is one of the best slalom waterskiers in the world, and isn’t afraid to stand up for what is right within the sport. Having put his money where his mouth is when it comes to a unified Pro Tour, Freddie is doing a lot for the sport both on the water and behind the scenes. Growing up skiing at Thorpe Lakes in the U.K., Freddie was ecstatic to ski in college in America, and continued to progress his skiing until he became one of slaloms best competitors. Nerdy waterskiers, getting banned from the Masters, the best crasher on tour, Victor Wenbenyama, the Waterski Pro Tour, and what makes TWBC so good. Hear all that and much more in Episode 57 of the Grab Matters Podcast!
