A group of more than 25 barefoot skiers from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland recently made the trek down south to test out the Moree Water Park.
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After hearing good things about the Moree Water Park, the group of barefooters, many of whom recently competed in the world titles in Mexico, decided to plan a trip down south to see what the Moree facility was like.
And they were not disappointed.
So much so that the group decided to extend their stay in Moree by two days.
“We like this so much we’re staying longer,” Chris Marrinan, who currently holds the Australian barefoot jump record, said.
“This is a world-class facility.
“It’s lived up to it’s reputation.”
Moree is the furthest the group has travelled to ski and they said they’re so impressed, they’ll definitely be back.
This has the potential to run state, national and even world titles here.
- Chris Marrinan, current Australian barefoot jump record-holder.
The group all ski together on the Maroochy River, however said they don’t have any facilities on the coast with two lakes for competition, which is the big drawcard of Moree’s water park.
“You have the choice of lakes, which means different directions for wind,” Marrinan said.
“Plus how it’s been built with a rollback, there’s no wait time.
“This has the potential to run state, national and even world titles here – they’ve been run in worse locations than this.”
Moree Water Ski Club events coordinator Angus Croft said this feedback reinforces what the club is aiming to achieve.
“It’s good to show that what’s been built is a world-class facility,” he said.
“It’s great to have people of different codes of water-skiing come here and try it and enjoy it. We want to see water-skiers, barefooters, wakeboarders, triathletes, everyone come and use it.
“We also want people from Tamworth, Armidale, Inverell and all over the region using it. The best thing is that we have a definite water source.”
Moree Water Ski Club will be hosting its first water ski tournament – the NSW Series round one – in October, with the Southern QLD Series set for December.
“That’s exciting for us,” Croft said.
“We’ve had interest from all over Australia from wakeboarders, barefooters, water skiers.
“It’s a potential site for future national championships.”
Moree Water Ski Club is also planning a number of coaching weekends throughout the season.