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Flipping Over Show Skiing

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Loren Scherschel, 12, right, and MacKenzie Craig, 12, ski during sunset at the girls' night practice for the Tampa Bay Waterski Club at Tower Lake.

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By NICK WILLIAMS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 17, 2008

OLDSMAR - A soft wind shifts the clouds over the hot, midday sun, setting the tone for an almost perfect skiing atmosphere at Tower Lake.

On the water, skiers Tony Forte and Joe Sawaska share a quick high-five before a speed boat hurls them across the lake and onto a huge ramp, sending them soaring into the air.

Perfect landing.

Moments later, Andrew Proses, 24, a show skier at Cypress Gardens and full-time student at the University of South Florida, joins Forte and Sawaska behind the boat. The trio flies off the ramp to perform a simultaneous front-flip.

Another perfect landing.

This lake is the home of the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team, a world-famous water ski and wakeboard organization that helped launch the careers of some of the world's top professional skiers. Skiers have gone on to perform professionally in shows at Cypress Gardens, Universal Studios Orlando and SeaWorld.

And when it comes to competitive show skiing, the Tampa club is as good as it gets.

Show skiing - the art of performing choreographed ballet, human pyramids and flips on skis while being pulled by a boat - is one of the oldest and most competitive water sports. Although not the same sport, many show skiers are capable of competing in three-event pro skiing, which consists of slalom racing, trick skiing and distance.

During competitive show skiing, the team performs in doubles, barefoot, human pyramid, wakeboard, jump, ballet and swivel categories.

The team has won six consecutive Southern Region titles and is the No. 1-ranked team in the Southeast region. In 2000, Tampa finished runner-up at the National Show Ski Championships. It also holds the world record for a seven-man front flip and is at the top of the list for sports entertainment, being hired to perform in Spain, London and China as well as across the United States. They even performed at the Daytona 500 last year.

Every weekend, they perform on Tower Lake.

The 100-member club originated in the 1960s under a different name, the Ski Bees, and organized on Egypt Lake in Tampa. The club has since become a factory for talent and it's simply because skiers breed more skiers.

"It's very family involved," club president Lisa Schmidt said. "A lot of them go to college, have kids, and then come back."

Lindsay Schmidt, Lisa's daughter, is a full-time student at the University of South Florida and part-time show skier at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. She started skiing at 8 and helped the club finish runner-up at the 2000 championships.

"It's a cycle here," Lindsay said. "Pros taught my generation."

"This is a pro-am team," club vice president Mark Neuberger said. "Most of the kids at SeaWorld, Cypress Gardens, they come off this team and they come back and coach. We want to make our team the best."

Skiers on the team vary between teenagers and senior citizens. Andrew Proses' father, Bill, is a 61-year-old city engineer. He has been skiing with the club for 15 years.

"I think we're the No. 1 ski supplier in the South, maybe the world," Bill said.

Since the age of 5, Tyler Sacone was skiing with professionals. Now 13 and a soon-to-be eighth-grader at Berkeley Prep, Sacone is one of the team's up-and-coming talents.

"It's really like an honor," Sacone said. "It's awesome having these great teachers."

Lisa Schmidt would like to see the team compete yearly at nationals, but she said traveling is too expensive. Shows, membership fees and camps help pay some of the bills, but Schmidt said the majority of the club's equipment and travel is paid for out of pocket.

"It's all volunteer," she said.

"People do it for the fun of it," Lindsay Schmidt said.

Although the Tampa team has only about two dozen skiers - some pro teams can have up to 100 - they make up for it with talent and showmanship.

"We're the most bang for your buck," skier Kim Sutton said.

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 865-4848 or nwilliams@tampatrib.com.

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