2015 Water Ski National Championships to be in West Palm Beach, FL

USA Water Ski and the American Water Ski Association are pleased to announce that the 2015 Water Ski National Championships will be held at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach, Fla. Hosted by the Ski Club of The Palm Beaches, the 73rd Nationals is tentatively scheduled to take place Aug. 11-15.

“The Ski Club of the Palm Beaches is proud to announce that we will be hosting our 14th Water Ski National Championships at Okeeheelee Park, August 11 through 15,” said John Shealy, president of the Ski Club of the Palm Beaches. “The club, Palm Beach Parks and Recreation and the Palm Beach Sports Commission welcome everyone back for this wonderful event.”

The Ski Club of The Palm Beaches has hosted 13 Water Ski National Championships, five Southern Regional Water Ski Championships, two Florida State Water Ski Championships and the 1989 Water Ski World Championships – in addition to a handful of professional cash-prize tournaments and hundreds of other amateur water ski tournaments – over the past 30 years. It most recently hosted the 2012 and 2013 Water Ski National Championships. For more information on the Ski Club of The Palm Beaches, visit www.okeeski.com.

More than 600 of the nation’s top water ski athletes from across the United States will compete for national titles in slalom, tricks, jumping and overall in respective age divisions and two Open divisions. Advancement to the Water Ski National Championships – the world’s largest three-event water ski tournament – is primarily earned through placement on the national rankings list. Athletes also can qualify for the Nationals by placing in the top-five at Regionals or by placing in the top-five at the previous year’sNationals.

The first national championships was held in 1939 at Jones Beach in Long Island, N.Y. Except for three years during World War II (1942-1944), the Nationals has been held every year since 1939. USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States.

Further information is available on www.USAWATERSKI.org.