By Oshin Aivazian
Daily Bruin Contributor
As the temperature gets hotter, more people are heading to the
beach to surf, and, yes, to water-ski.
Though surfing has a bigger following in Southern California,
there are athletes that have dedicated themselves to water-skiing
for years.
The UCLA water-skiing team is a group of such devotees that
spend their free time and energy on a sport they love ““ and
wake up in the early morning hours to practice.
Slicing waves at speeds above 90 mph and riding a jump into the
cold, biting morning air describe the rough nature of water-skiing
which the UCLA team experiences on a weekly basis.
“Every week, we practice at Castaic Lake ““ we hope
to make nationals,” team member Jaisha Wray said.
Castaic Lake, which is about 40 miles from UCLA, is also where
one of nine meets this season will be held this weekend.
The meets are to qualify for the national competition, which is
to be held in Texas.
UCLA must go against many other excellent programs in the state
in order to qualify ““ among them Cal State Chico, UC Davis,
and UC San Diego.
Whereas other schools recruit professional water-skiers into
their program, UCLA is a team built of amateurs mainly with
recreational water-skiing experience.
They rely on simple values and team unity as their guiding force
throughout the season.
“We have a mentor with a lot of experience to offer us,
and we will be competing against UCSD and UC Davis for the final
two spots in nationals,” team member Noah Canvasser said.