Water Ski Nationals Dates Announced

USA Water Ski and the American Water Ski Association are pleased to announce that the 2014 GOODE Water Ski National Championships will be held Aug. 11-16 at the San Marcos River Ranch in San Marcos, Texas.

The San Marcos River Ranch, a private water ski development featuring four world record capability water ski lakes, is located between Austin and San Antonio along the San Marcos River. The site will utilize three of the lakes for the Nationals’ competition and one for practice during the six-day Nationals, which is being held for the 72nd time.

It will mark the fifth time that the state of Texas has hosted the U.S. Nationals. The 2002 and 2003 national championships were held in Santa Fe, the 1980 Nationals was held in Tyler, and the 1961 and 1967 Nationals took place in Austin.

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 at the Nationals, the world’s largest three-event water ski tournament. Advancement to the Nationals 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's Nationals.

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. For more information on the San Marcos River Ranch, visit www.sanmarcosriverranch.com.

The American Water Ski Association is one of nine sport discipline organizations of USA Water Ski, which was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski, celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2014, 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 and wakeboarding in the United States.