Ski competition to be held in Van Wert

Van Wert independent sports/submitted information

Pleasant Shores Water Ski Club will be hosting the Ohio Buckeye Buoy Tour (BBT) Stop 3 on Friday and the Ohio State Championships this Saturday and Sunday.

The BBT is a five-stop tour letting all skiers ski at least two rounds against their average. Skiers that get the highest percentage of their average moves into the final rounds and improve their average the most win that tour stop. This gives all skiers, from beginners to top-level skiers, the same opportunity to win and have fun interacting with each other.

There are different tour stop themes at each event and this week’s theme is “Team Assault.” Along with the individual challenge, five teams were selected to add to the fun. At the final tour stop, the skier that has improved his or her average at each stop will be crowned the winner of the BBT for 2011.

The Ohio State Championships three-event tournament is to allow each skier to ski to a certain performance level that will allow them to move to regional competition — and possibly the national championship — in their age group. Events held during the tournament include slalom, tricks and jumping.

Slalom is where skiers navigate their way around six buoys per pass. After each successful pass, the rope is shortened, making it harder to complete the pass.

Tricks competition is where a skier performs as many tricks in two 20-second passes as possible, with each trick having predetermined values. Skiers performing the highest number of tricks and compiling the highest point value win their age division.

Jumping is the last of the three events, with skiers scored on the distance of all jumps where they land and ski away. Each contestant gets three attempts to post the greatest distance.

Local residents Kayla and Jim McClure are in training this year to defend their overall No. 1 ranking from 2010 in the Midwest Region, while Keri McClure is in training to defend her slalom national champion title from last year.

The public is invited to come watch events this weekend. Competition starts at 8 a.m. each day, Friday through Sunday, this weekend

For more information about water skiing go to USAWaterski.org or SkiOWSA.com