While we are almost to ski season, we still have a few more weeks until Spring is officially upon us! The biggest question always is, how do we stay motivated to stay fit during the off season?
Clemson’s Weekly Challenge!
The Clemson Water Ski Teams’ Captain, James Webber, came up with a weekly challenge system that lasts for 10 weeks. Once the spring schedule was announced after the SAC’s Midwinter meeting, a weekly challenge was sent out to the Clemson team on Sunday and all participating team members were to submit their results by the following Saturday.
Week #1: How Far Will You Row!
Saturday, February 10th started the first weekly challenge Clemson’s Captain put out to his teammates. He challenged them to improve their bodies before their first spring tournament. With the SAC’s first tournament hosted by the University of Alabama just 55 days away, the first challenge is to see who totals the most on an erg (stationary rowing machine).
While the physical act of skiing through a course, hitting a jump, or practicing tricks is respectfully so short, it is necessary to train in other ways as well.
James Webber
The erg was chosen as it is great for 2 main purposes: cardiovascular and full body training. The cardio training will help run more passes, get more time on the water, and hopefully be less winded in the end! The erg is one of the few machines that engages muscles simultaneously instead of working a single muscle group. As you row, the force is transmitted all the way from your hands to your feet while forcing you to keep a tight core and back, effectively working your whole body.
Week 1’s Winner Is…
The winner for week 1 was me, Ashley Stevens, with 12,108m. Our team had a bit of a slow start to our training as only 4 members decided to hop on the rowing machine for this week.
Week #2: Pedal to the Metal
The SAC’s first tournament is now only 48 days away. Sunday the 17th of February began the challenge of cycling.
The first challenge with the erg was very low impact, the stationary bike is one small step up. The stationary bike is another cardio exercise while also strengthening your leg muscles and maintaining movement in your knees.
To make this week more exciting, as sitting on a bike in a gym can get boring, a trivia challenge was introduced. For each correctly answered trivia question, 5 miles was added to each individuals final distance.
Understanding the history of the sport is one way to become involved and connect with fellow skiers around the world.
James Webber
Jump Trivia
The current Men’s Jump world record is 254ft. The current US Boys 3 record is 193 ft. At what point were these two records the closest? (Hint: early on there was no distinction between junior ages, so the division was called Boys)
Answer:
On August 1st, 1958 Roger Ray set a new Boys record with a jump of 110ft. The world record at this time was a distance of 127ft set by LeRoy Herron.
Trick Trivia
For all the trick fans out there! Who was the first skier to land a Ski Line 720 back to back (SL7BB) in a tournament?
Answer:
Kreg Llewellyn was the first to land the SL7BB in a tournament.
Slalom Trivia
It seems like Men’s records are always higher than the Women’s, but there have been times where a female US record was higher than the male record in the same division. At what point in time was a female US national record at the highest differential against the corresponding male record? (Hint: any division B/G 1-3, M/W 1-11, Open M/W, or Master M/W)
Answer
On June 4th, 1994 Regina Jaquess set a new Girls 1 record of 1 buoy at 35off. The current Boys 1 record at the time was 2 buoys at 32off set by Drew Dill.
Flash Trivia: first to answer gets the extra miles
When was the last time Clemson beat Alabama at Nationals (when both teams competed)?
Answer
In 2000, Clemson University finished 5th in the nation with 8495 overall points behind Florida Southern College who had 8665 overall points. While the University of Alabama finished 6th with 7455 overall points.
The second best answer is when the two teams were in two different divisions. In 2002, Clemson competed in D1 receiving 10th place, and Alabama competed in D2 receiving 4th.
Week 2’s Winner is..
Lauren Linton wins Week 2 with cycling 69mi. Ashley Stevens is the first runner up with 61mi. This week there were double the amount of participants: 8 members.
Week #3: Leg Week!
T-41 days until the SAC’s first spring tournament. Weeks 1 and 2 got the body moving and increased the cardio vascular endurance. Now it’s time to see who will complete the most reps of squatting with an additional 45% of their body weight.
Week 3’s Winner is…
Lauren Linton is the winner again with squatting 550 reps throughout the week. Olivia Boezio is the runner-up with 430 reps. There were a total of 9 competitors this week.
Week #4:
With some sore legs and nearly 2000 squats completed, the Clemson team entered Week 4. It is important to always be aware of your body and when it is telling you to take a day off. This week is a week off of work-outs and conditioning. Instead, the Clemson team focused on strategy: draft a team of your choice for the Moomba Masters Tournament on fantasy.ski.
The Moomba Masters is the first pro tournament of the year and is held in Melbourne, Australia on the Yarra River. It is held in conjunction with the Melbourne Festival allowing hundreds of thousands of people to watch our favorite sport. Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of EST, so webcast viewers had to take the time change into account!
Week 4’s Winner is….
Parker Roberson takes Week 4 with 11,362.8 points! Austin Rodgers (an honorary Clemson Ski Member) is runner up with 11,065.2 points.
We’ve Got a Late Addition!
The SAC is glad to announce that UGA has put in a last minute bid to host on March 30th-31st at Southern Waters Way in Forsyth, GA, and it was approved!
Tune in to see how the Clemson team prepares over the next few weeks as their first tournament of the season is now a week earlier!
- 2019 Reflections: South Central Edition - January 10, 2020
- 2019 Reflections: Western Edition - January 9, 2020
- 2019 Reflections: Midwestern Edition - January 8, 2020
