1998 NCWSA Nationals - Slalom Record: Chris Parrish

TBT: Parrish’s NCWSA Slalom Record at 20th NCWSA Nationals in 1998

Last year, we got into our time machine and found an article on the very first NCWSA Nationals (1979). As we approach the Connelly Skis 40th NCWSA Nationals we are hopping back into our time machine to explore the 10th20th (bonus article on Parrish Slalom Record), and 30th (bonus article on Storm Selsor) NCWSA Nationals tournaments!

The following article was originally written and published in the 1999 January/February issue of The Water Skier! The Water Skier is the official magazine of USA Water Ski. The original article was imported word for word to be republished on NCWSA.com with permission from USA Water Ski and The Water Skier.

NLU’s Parrish Shatters NCWSA Record in Slalom


Story by Scott Atkinson

Chris Parrish says he can’t wait for the second semester to begin. The freshman at Northeast Louisiana University [NLU/ULM] wasn’t exactly having the type of first semester he anticipated prior to leaving his ski-happy home in Orlando, Fla., last fall for the campus-life of Monroe, La.

Besides dealing with the anxieties that come with being hundreds of miles from home and a first-year college student, Parrish also was focused on helping NLU to another NCWSA National Championship. “My goals coming in were to help NLU win the national title and for me to win a national title in slalom and break the collegiate record in slalom [4 buoys at 39 feet off],” says Parrish. “That’s truly what I wanted to do and for awhile I didn’t think it was going to happen.”

Just days into the semester, Parrish broke his nose in three places while playing in an intramural basketball game. The injury required surgery and forced him to miss almost the entire water ski season. “I felt awful,” he says. “It was very painful and made my semester absolutely horrible.”

At the South Central Regional Championships, his first tournament as a collegian, Parrish, with only two weeks of training behind him, showed signs of things to come by running 1-1/2 at 39′ off.

1998 NCWSA Nationals - Slalom Record: Chris Parrish

Two weeks later at Nationals, his second tournament as a collegian, Parrish wasted little time for his heroics. On the tournament’s opening day, Parrish watched from the starting dock as Sacramento State’s Marcus Brown ran 4 at 39′ off, equaling the national record Brown set two weeks before. “When [Brown] put that score up I was just thinking, ‘that’s a pretty damn big score. I’ve got some work ahead,'” says Parrish. “The NLU people were across the lake and just going nuts, screaming and rooting me on. When I heard that I just got pumped up and actually felt more relaxed.”

1998 NCWSA Nationals - Slalom Record: Chris Parrish
Chris Parrish receives congratulations after winning Men’s slalom and setting an NCWSA record.

It showed. Minutes later, Parrish became the first collegiate skier ever to run 39-1/2′ off and then went on to set a NCWSA slalom record of 2 at 41′ off. The run gave NLU, which went on to win its 12th national championship on Sunday, a five-point win in Men’s slalom over Arizona State. “That was big for our team,” says Parrish. “It’s just an amazing feeling. I was the last one out for our team and there is a lot of pressure to put up a big score.”

“I knew Chris was capable of that kind of performance,” says NLU coach Bill Bagley. “He’s a proven pressure skier and he was comfortable with the site and with his position in the running order. It just turned out to be a fabulous feat for Chris, for the team and the university.”

Despite amaingly accomplishing all three of his goals in just his first year of collegiate skiing, he still couldn’t wait for the first semester to be over. Contacted by telephone a few weeks after Nationals, Parrish said he was resting. No skiing and no basketball. But that was bound to change soon. The bed-ridden Parrish just needed the medication for that case of strep throat he had just come down with to hurry up and kick in.

[The complete scorebook from 1998 NCWSA Nationals can be found on USA Water Ski & Wake Sports website.]

Permission for Republishing

This article has been republished from an issue of The Water Skier, and is posted on NCWSA.com with permission from USA Water Ski and The Water Skier. The Water Skier is the official magazine of USA Water Ski.

Adam Koehler

I am Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside and Bachelor's and Masters from Marquette University. I skied collegiately at Marquette and in 2009 I received the NCWSA Outstanding Leader Award. I was NCWSA Operations Committee Chair for 7 years, and the NCWSA Secretary for 8 years.