Add this to the list of local things I had NO idea about & am now angry at myself for not knowing about them sooner: Maine has a WATER SKI SHOW TEAM?
Yep. The Maine Attraction Water Ski Show Team has been performing water ski shows since being founded in 1988. They entertain the masses every Thursday night at 6:30pm in July for free (there’s one coming up this Thursday night, July 22nd, sched/info here: Schedule – Maine Attraction Water Ski Show Team)!
But wait, there’s more: THIS Sunday, July 25th Maine Attraction will be hosting & competing in the 36th Annual Eastern Region Show Ski Tournament from 9am-5pm! I caught up with Director Katie Gray for a little Q&A session to learn more.
Q: How did the Maine Attraction Water Ski Show Team start?
A: The team started back in 1988 when my parents moved to town after meeting and working together at Seaworld of Orlando, Florida where they water skied. There was already a three event team in town (they do the slalom course, trick skiing and distance jumping) so they introduced the show skiing side of the sport. The team started out small and has now grown to over 75 members.
Q: What’s the age range for your team members?
A: We have members as young as six skiing and as old as 60 skiing! My mom who is our teams vice president just got a hip replacement in the fall as well as turned 60 years old! She’s still hitting the jump!
Q: What is the training schedule like for the team?
A: The past couple years have been a lot different with Covid but usually we start in the gym in January and practice once a week until June. In the gym we practice climbing pyramids, doing doubles and learning our dances. When we hit the water in June we start working on all of our different acts from barefooting to ballet.
Q: How does one get into competitive water skiing?
A: The key to getting into competitive water skiing is practice. Almost all of our members have access to a boat outside of our team so that they can practice on their own.
