World Water Ski Racing Championships

Today, athletes are arriving in New Zealand's Capital City of Wellington for the 19th World Water Ski Racing Championships. The NZWSRA, which runs all races here, is hosting the event which will take place on Wellington's two centrally located harbour courses at Evans Bay and Oriental Bay. For spectators, these provide outstanding views of all the high speed action on the water.

A total of nine current and past World Water Ski Racing Champions will compete with athletes from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Hong Kong, USA and the host nation New Zealand. Travelling at speeds exceeding 100kph, this is one of the most spectacular events on the annual calendar of the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation.

Hot favourites chasing the title of World Champion will be Todd Haig (USA), 2005 Men's World Champion and three-time World Silver Medallist and Katelin Wendt-Watson (USA), 2011 Women's World Champion and 2003 Junior Girls World Champion. Martie Wells (USA), 2003 Men's World Champion, is also making his comeback to World Championships Ski Racing at the age of 52.

Water Ski Racing athletes will compete in six divisions – Men's Formula 1 and Women's Formula 1; Men's Formula 2 and Women's Formula 2; and Junior Boys and Junior Girls. The championships involve four races. Men's Formula 1 and Men's Formula 2 competitors race for 1 hour, plus 1 lap; Women's Formula 1 and Women's Formula 2 competitors race for 45 minutes, plus 1 lap; and Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' competitors race for 30 minutes, plus 1 lap. There will be four rounds of racing. The final overall placements will be determined by the athletes' three best race placements.

This coming Saturday, April 11th, will see the first major Race Day in action, to be followed by the others on April 13th, 15th and 18th.

Event Timetable : http://www.wwsrc.com/index.php/programme

Live streaming and results will be available at http://www.wwsrc.com

Contact Marketing & Media ; Brad Dutton brad@rollosmarine.co.nz

With more cafés, bars and restaurants per capita than New York City, Wellington is renowned for its lively nightlife and world-class culinary scene. It has also become the hub of New Zealand’s craft beer revolution, with experimental breweries and specialist bars popping up all over the city. This will all ensure that these 2015 World Water Ski Racing Championships will be a very special experience for all involved.

IWWF CONTACT : Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation