Ten athletes won national titles in respective events and divisions at the 22nd Disabled Water Ski National Championships, August 24-25, at Shortline Lake, Elk Grove, California. Among the winners were three athletes with amputations: Craig Timm, Jeff Hancock, and Tammy Allard.
Within each event (slalom, tricks, and jumping), athletes were grouped into the three categories of seated (individuals with paraplegia and quadriplegia), standing (individuals with arm and/or leg disabilities, with or without prosthesis), and vision impaired (individuals with partial or total blindness). Event winners were based on a two-round total of overall points compared to the 2011 U.S. national records. Overall winners were based on the overall points from the best of either round compared to the 2011 U.S. national records.
Hancock, who has a left transfemoral amputation, and Timm, who has a right transhumeral amputation, earned national titles in the men’s standing division. Hancock won the slalom event and Timm won in the tricks and jumping events, as well as an overall title. Allard, who has a right transradial amputation, won titles in women’s standing slalom and tricks.
The tournament also was used to select the 2013 U.S. Disabled Water Ski Team, which will be seeking to win a third consecutive world team title at the 11th Disabled Water Ski World Championships, July 1-7, 2013, in Milan, Italy. Hancock and Timm were both selected for that team.
