Max is third in junior water ski champs
Taupo’s Max Duckworth has won third place in the junior section of the World Water Ski Championships.
The contest was held in Seattle last month, where Max (17) teamed up with driver Stacey Mellow and his observer Paul Skipper, to take on the rest of the world.
The contest is held every two years, and it is not the first time Max has competed. It is his best result though and is the first time he has managed to claim one of the top three positions.
Max competed in three ‘qualifying’ races.
He had a fall in the first race but bounced back for the second and third races, managing to come second in both of those.
The pressure was on for the final race for Max.
He had to beat the competitor who was in second place by 25 seconds to leapfrog into the penultimate placing.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Max but he was not complaining about where he ended up.
He said winning overall would have been good but finishing third was still a satisfying result.
‘‘It was definitely a good feeling. It’s quite a funny feeling because, obviously you want to win but we are still happy with third,’’ he said.
Mellow, who is also Max’s stepdad, said third was quite an achievement.
‘‘A lot of New Zealand teams go over and never place on the day, let alone in the worlds.’’ ‘‘It was a hard task to win.’’ Max competed against nine other teams in the under 17s class.
Third in the worlds for juniors isn’t Max’s only achievements this year.
He has won five national titles, including one for his age group and two for open age groups.
He also has five North Island titles and his team won best team of the year.
In May he went to Australia to compete in the Trans Tasman challenge and was victorious there also taking out his age group.
With Worlds behind him for another two years, Max is unsure if he will go back but for now, he is just going to chill out and enjoy the sport he loves a bit more.
‘‘I’m just going to have a bit of fun with it.’’
Max thanks everyone for all their support and says he couldn’t have done it without his major supporters.