Helping hands make Masters

THE Australian Masters Water Ski Championships will take place at the Bridgewater Ski Club on the Loddon River over the weekend in what is meant to be perfect conditions.

The event will run over three days from Friday, 27 January to Sunday, 29 January and includes competitors in men’s and women’s age groups ranging from 10 to 65 years old.

Bridgewater Ski Club president Dean Cosgriff said the weekend wouldn’t have been able to get underway without a lot of help cleaning up after last year’s flood event.

“On 14 October we had lost absolutely everything,” he said.

“It’s been a huge effort by the club to get back up and running. The Loddon Shire has been absolutely amazing in helping us prepare the site and get everything ready to go again.”

“There has also been a big help from the local community.”

The event will see some of Australia’s best skiers take part in three events over the weekend and involves slalom, jumps and trick water-skiing.

“We have 50 of Australia’s highest ranked skiers coming from as far as Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria,” said Mr Cosgriff.

The talent on show this weekend is sure to impress and Mr Cosgriff said some of the juniors were just returning from overseas competition.

“We have some really high calibre athletes attending and its absolutely fantastic to be back here on the water at the Loddon River,” he said.

“Some of our juniors that will be here have just been to Chile competing in the World Tournament and we have a couple who were podium finishers in over there,” he said.

The Masters is free to attend, and Mr Cosgriff said organisers are expecting a good turnout.

“The caravan park is completely booked out and we expect to see a lot of people come out over the weekend to enjoy the atmosphere as well as see some amazing athletes doing their thing,” he said.