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U.S. Water Ski Team Earns Two Medals As Finals Begin at Pan American Games
By Scott Atkinson // USA Water Ski // July 24, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - U.S. Water Ski Team members Regina Jaquess (Suwanee, Ga.) and Mandy Nightingale (Sapulpa, Okla.) earned the silver and bronze medals in women’s slalom, respectively, on Monday at the 2007 Pan American Games at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Canada's Whitney McClintock earned the gold medal. In other events, U.S. Water Ski Team member Austin Hair (Tega Cay, S.C.) placed fourth in men’s wakeboarding and Jonathan Travers (Groveland, Fla.) qualified for the finals of men’s jumping with a 153-foot leap.
McClintock, the No. 3 seed, scored 2-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off in winning her first career Pan American Games' medal. Jaquess, the top seed, scored 2-1/2 buoys at 35 feet off to earn her second career women's slalom silver medal at the Games. Nightingale, the No. 2 seed, scored 2 buoys at 35 feet to clinch the bronze medal, her first career medal at the Pan American Games.
Argentina's Veronica Vinuales (1-1/2 at 35), Colombia's Natalia Hernandez (4 at 32), Colombia's Camila Linares (2 at 32), Mexico's Aline Font (1 at 32) and Chile's Tiare Miranda (5 at 22) rounded out the top-eight placements.
Canada's Drew Ross won the men's slalom gold medal, scoring 2 buoys at 38 feet off. Colombia's Jose Mesa earned the silver medal with 1-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off and Chile's Felipe Miranda claimed the bronze medal after defeating Mexico's Arturo Nelson in a runoff. Both skiers tied with a 1/2 buoy at 38 feet off in the finals, and they had the same score in the preliminary round, which resulted in the runoff. Miranda scored 1 buoy at 38 feet off to Nelson's score of a 1/2-buoy at 38 feet off to secure the bronze.
Brazil's Fernando Neves (5 at 35), Mexico's Carlos La Madrid (4 at 35), Brazil's Felipe Neves (1/2 at 35) and Argentina's Javier Julio (2-1/2 at 28) rounded out the top-eight placements.
In men’s wakeboarding, Brazil’s Marcelo Girardi won the gold medal with 86.46 points. Canada’s Brad Buskas earned the silver medal with 81.00 points and Argentina’s Edgardo Martin earned the bronze medal with 76.98 points. Hair tallied 57.56 points, and was followed by Mexico’s Daniel Gremion (49.00 points) and Equador’s Alfredo Bonard (47.78 points).
Travers will join Canada’s Jaret Llewellyn (217 feet), Canada’s Ryan Dodd (210 feet), Chile’s Rodrigo Miranda (194 feet), Colombia’s Esteban Seigert (187 feet), Chile’s Felipe Miranda (186 feet), Brazil’s Thiago Gerin (173 feet) and Argentina’s Lopez Martin (141 feet) in the men’s jumping finals.
For the second consecutive day, a strong wind wreaked havoc on the water ski competition. Monday's action was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. with Canada's Whitney McClintock taking her jump set to complete the preliminary round of women's jumping. But overnight storms moved the jump ramp out of tolerance. Officials decided to cancel the women’s jumping preliminary round; as all six athletes already were qualified for the finals. Because of the wind and concern for the safety of the athletes, men's slalom was run at a boat speed of 34 mph instead of the usual 36 mph boat speed. The wind eventually subsided and women's slalom was run at the normal 34 mph boat speed.
The remaining schedule for the water ski competition is as follows (times are approximate):
Tuesday, July 24
9:00 a.m., Women's Jumping Finals, Regina Jaquess (Suwanee, Ga.) and Mandy Nightingale (Sapulpa, Okla.); 10:25 a.m., Men's Jumping Finals, Jonathan Travers (Groveland, Fla.).
11:50 a.m., Women’s Tricks Finals, Regina Jaquess (Suwanee, Ga.) and Mandy Nightingale (Sapulpa, Okla.). 12:45 p.m., Men's Tricks Finals, Cory Pickos (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.).
USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. With more than 40,000 members, USA Water Ski is the largest water ski federation in the world.
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