Florida sisters heading to international water ski championships
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - Anna Gay and Ella Gay are sisters from Winter Garden picked to compete in the 2022 International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation Pan American Water Ski Championships (IWWF Panam).
"It’s a three-event ski tournament, so they are slalom, trick, and jump," said Anna. "It's amazing. It is so cool to represent our country but to do it together is even cooler."
Anna, who is 22, made the elite team, and Ella, who is 13, made the younger group. They’re going to Chile later this month to compete. The sisters come from a family of water skiers. Their parents are former professionals.
"You can't go skiing by yourself, you need someone to drive the boat, you need someone to pinning you or watching you or whatever and for us, our family can do that and so our family is very involved," said Anna.
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Anna is a world tricks champion and water skis for the University of Alabama. Ella said they’ve worked hard to place among the country's best.
"It is a lot of work, but I don’t know I’m really excited to do it with my family," said Ella.
The sisters said their toughest competition may come from the Canadian and Chilean teams. Anna says her next goal is to beat her own tricks' achievement.
"I’ve broken the world record twice, but for me, I would love to do that again."
The biennial event kicks off on November 29.