ACTION SPORTS ANTICIPATES OVER 140,000 SPECTATORS TO ATTEND THIS WATERSKI & WAKEBOARD EXTRAVAGANZA

The City of Mandurah on Australia’s south west coast will be in the global spotlight on March 16/17. Considering the recent Tokyo World Cup Stop achieved over 700 hours of TV exposure, the outstanding quality of athletes attending this particular event will certainly thrill the viewers wherever they are. This includes the 1,000 Gymnasiums and 19 Airlines which screen the World Cup Series who will share in the thrilling mix of disciplines! A global live Webcast will also be provided by the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation at www.IWWF.tv

The events to be featured in Mandurah are Wakeboard, Waterski Jump and Waterski Shortboard. The Wakeboard stars include both World Champions, Australia’s own 19 year old Harley Clifford and also 19 year old Raimi Merritt USA. Clifford is widely regarded as a phenomenon in the sport of Wakeboard. His recent tally includes World Cup Stop victories in Palembang Indonesia, Sarawak Borneo, Linyi China, and the 2012 Mandurah Stop. Merritt is also almost unbeatable having taken World Cup gold in Indonesia, Borneo, Korea, China, and Qatar. Given the fact that Wakeboard is currently on the short list for possible inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games, those involved in lifestyle Boardsports globally will take a special interest in the champions who could lead this path to Olympic glory in seven years time.

In Waterski Jump, it is not quite so clearly defined as to who will lead the battle for Mandurah gold. Certainly, in the men’s event, the athlete known to his fans around the world as “The Nightmare”, Freddy Kruger USA, is the one to watch. His achievements on the Jump Ramp have never been equaled in the long history of this exciting extreme sport which was founded in 1946.  Given that he will accelerate towards the Jump Ramp from zero to 100kph in approximately 1.8 seconds, it takes enormous skill to master this discipline. Not only is he the current World Champion but he has also broken the World Record an unprecedented seven times since 1999. Again, he has won the Jump event at almost every recent World Cup Stop. Unfortunately, the Women’s World Record holder, Natallia Berdnikova BLR, has been forced to withdraw on this occasion due to injury but watch out for 20 year old Jacinta Carroll AUS, a past World Junior Champion and U21 World Record breaker, and Marion Mathieu FRA who scored six major podium finishes last season alone.

In Shortboard, Mandurah spectators will be treated to the special skills of both World Record Holders, Clementine Lucine FRA and Aliaksei Zharnasek BLR. Lucine has been dominant for a full decade, Europe Africa Overall Champion ten times and was the first female ever to score over 10,000 points in this discipline. Her current World Record stands at 10,040 points. She is the defending Mandurah World Cup Champion, a title she will not relinquish easily. Alaiksei Zharnasek BLR holds the Men’s World Record at 12,570 points. He also is the defending Mandurah World Cup Champion, the current World Champion, reigning Moomba Masters Champion and like Lucine, will be very difficult to dislodge !

In bringing such a high quality event with athletes from 23 countries, the combined efforts of Government of Western Australia, Regional Development and Lands, Royalties for Regions, Eventscorp, City of Mandurah and    have now certainly made this region a significant watersports venue of very special interest to the global World Cup audience. MasterCraft will again provide the competition boats which will feature in every World Cup Stop of 2013, a service they have provided since 2004.