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 10th, 20th (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 2009 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.
Rising of the Sun Devil
Arizona State’s Storm Selsor capped off a whirlwind year by winning the men’s jumping and overall titles at the 30th Collegiate Water Ski National Championships, Oct. 16-18, in Chandler, Ariz.
Story and Photography by Scott N. Atkinson
When Storm Selsor started water skiing at age 5, he hated it so much that his dad, Terry, had to bribe him every time they took their boat out on California’s San Joaquin Delta. Terry would simply pay his son to ski a certain distance. But as soon as Storm began conquering the slalom course a little more than a year later, the pay offs quickly diminished. “Ever since the bribes went away, it has been full throttle,” says Selsor, who turned 19 last August. “I’m motivated to get better.” Nearly 15 years after he strapped on his first pair of skis, the required bribe money for Selsor to ski has turned into much needed spending money for global travel.
Last year, Selsor showcased his three-event skills at major tournaments in Chile, Colombia, and China, and across the United States — from California to Ohio to Florida to Arizona. His whirlwind year concluded in October at the 30th Collegiate Water Ski National Championships, Oct. 16-18 in Chandler, Ariz. Selsor won the men’s jumping and overall titles, placed second in tricks and fourth in slalom, and led Arizona State to a fourth-place finish in the overall team standings. “My number one goal was to help out the team as much as possible,” says Selsor, who will finish his sophomore year in May. “Winning jumping and overall was a huge bonus. Actually, during the heat of the jumping event, I completely forgot about overall. I was too excited and nervous watching all of the other competitors take a rip at the jump to even think about it.”
Selsor earned All-American honors in every event at Nationals by virtue of placing in the top five in each of them. He tallied 1,760.0 points to win the overall title. “I consider myself an overall skier, I don’t believe that I have one or two outstanding events, but rather three strong events,” says Selsor, who finished second overall, third in tricks and fifth in slalom and jumping at the 2007 Collegiate Nationals. “When I was growing up, I looked up to overall skiers; that’s what I wanted to be and I worked in that direction. Winning the overall title at any major tournament is a great feeling, but winning overall for the first time at a major collegiate event is really special.”
Selsor scored 3-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off — one buoy shy of typing his personal best — in slalom, tallied 5,270 points (single pass) in tricks, and leaped 164 feet in jumping, four feet beyond his best effort in collegiate competition from 2007. “I was really happy with my slalom since I was only one buoy shy of my personal best,” Selsor says. “Since this was my last tournament of the year I had my mind set on running 38 for the first time. I came up short, but I skied great. Tricks is the event that has always made me the most nervous. At Collegiate Nationals you only have one pass, so you can’t mess up. During my run I messed up my ski line back-to-back and bailed. I instead did a wake front. The ski line back-to-back was not very consistent at the time and the risk versus reward of going for that trick in a slightly off position was not worth it. If I got that trick in I could have won the tricks title. But I made it through my entire pass and stood up. That was my goal. As far as jumping, my best collegiate score last year was 160 and this year I wanted to put one out there at 170. It was kind of funny, because after I finished jumping I wasn’t thrilled because I thought 164 would not place because there were at least five guys [left on the dock] that had gone over my distance before.”
Despite excelling at the national and international level for the past several years, Selsor says he considers the collegiate jumping victory to be the first major jumping title of his career. “It was a different feeling having everyone after me try and take down my score and have it hold,” he says. “In other major tournaments, with world-caliber jumpers, I was not really a contender for a jumping title. I focused a lot more on my jumping this summer training at Jack Travers’ and it really paid off.”
Did it ever. Selsor, who hails from Fremont Calif., launched a personal best 201 feet — clearing 200 feet for the first time — on his final attempt at the GOODE Water Ski National Championships in August to place fourth in Open Men jumping behind the likes of elite athletes Freddy Krueger and Scot Ellis. In October, he jumped 197 feet on the ever-challenging Vanke Dongli Lake to win the silver medal in men’s jumping at the FISU World University Water Ski Championships in Tianjin, China. “I focused more on my jumping because it is the event I have the most fun competing in,” he says. “Jumping was the only event I was able to achieve my preseason goal in by jumping 200 feet. I was trying to run 38 in slalom and trick 10,000 points [two passes]. I got close in both, running 4-1/2 at 38 off and trick 9,690 points. Overall, I was completely satisfied with my skiing in 2008.”
As for 2009, Selsor Says he would like to consistently run 38 off, score 10,500 points in tricks, and jump 215 feet. He also is aiming to qualify to compete in more international tournaments. “My highest goal is to be able to qualify to compete in the Water Ski World Championships [to be held in Canada] in August,” he says. “I also would like to make the U.S. Under 21 Water Ski Team and bring home the gold from the Under 21 Water Ski World Championships [to be held in October in Mexico].”
Given his past experience and tremendous work ethic, there’s little doubt he can achieve all of those goals. The only question now is how much spending money will he need along the way.
[The complete scorebook from 2008 Division 1 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.
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