Wake Sports Festival.
Tim Cullen started water skiing in 1978 when his family joined the Janesville-based Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team. He was 8-years-old and went off a jump the next year. By age 15 he was skiing barefoot, as well as doing flips, spins and other tricks.
These days, the 47-year-old Cullen mostly drives a boat pulling other skiers. He gave up the tricks a decade ago when his knees and back began protesting too much. But water-skiing remains a family affair, he said, and both his father and brother remain active in the sport.
But Cullen, president of the Aqua Jays for the past four years, said when skiers perform at the U.S. Wake Sports Festival Aug. 15-19, he knows he’ll feel a tug to go flying off a jump again.
“But I also know there will be crashes, and that I made the right decision,” he said. “My body can’t take it anymore.”
Cullen said the free festival will bring together all levels of water skiers, from novice to pro. He said the event is the first of its kind in the country and offer everything from lessons for the disabled to a freestyle jump tournament over five days at Traxler Park on the Rock River in downtown Janesville.
“We decided to have it here because we’ve hosted a lot of other tournaments and events, and we figured bringing together different disciplines would be unique, entertaining and not something you’d normally see together,” he said.
He said the first two days of the of the festival will focus on adaptive water skiing, which means anyone with a disability can come to the park and try out the sport. The Water Skiers with Disabilities organization will be in charge of this part of the festival, he said.
He estimated 150 handicapped people will participate and be able to try out different adaptive equipment. He noted that the disabled have long been getting up skis.
“In fact, one-legged skiers have their own tournament,” he added. “Some of them are really good. They go over jumps, slalom ski and do other things that are pretty impressive.”
Cullen said Traxler Park will also be the site of the U.S. National Hydrofoil Championship.
Hydrofoils are sit-down types of boards with a hard metal fin that is 36 inches below the board. Skiers are pulled behind a ski boat and ride the board on the water, then rise up using the fin, launch themselves and do tricks.
“They can go 20 to 30 feet in the air and do multiple flips and twists — or whatever else they can think up — and then if all goes well land safely and continue on, skiing over the water,” he said. “It’s really amazing.”
He said hydrofoil water skiers don’t have a national tournament every year but accepted the invitation to come to Janesville. Approximately 300 hydrofoilers are expected to compete. In addition to performing tricks high in the air, they will also see who can get the longest “hang time,” which he said will be judged by a computer, which counts “frames” to determine the winner.
“Saturday will be our marquee day with the hydro nationals and the big-air contest with the hydrofoils,” he said. “Then on Saturday night we’ll switch to a freestyle jump competition that will be under the stadium lights at the park.
“The boats will also have lights and skiers will go off and do flips and gainers, where you go up and do a backward flip. Those kinds of tricks will be show-stoppers and should bring in top talent from around the country.”
Cullen said Traxler Park, which has been home to the Rock Aqua Jays for 50 years, is an ideal setting for the festival because wind is blocked by a bluff and trees. Moreover, one end of the park is a dam, so there is no competing boat traffic. In addition, there are seats for 2,800 people in the stadium.
“We’re within walking distance of downtown Janesville, too,” he said. “So it really is a great place for this festival.” More information: See uswakesportsfestival.com. For other things to do during the festival, see the Janesville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau website at janesvillecvb.com.
Getting there: Traxler Park, 600 Main St., Janesville, is 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee via I-43 and Highway 14.
“They can go 20 to 30 feet in the air and do multiple flips and twists — or whatever else they can think up ... It’s really amazing.”