Laura Szwed in New Zealand
OTAKI, NEW ZEALAND - Laura Szwed of White Lake, MI was one of six skiers chosen to represent the Unites States Elite Team at the 2009 IWSF World Barefoot Waterski Championships in Otaki, New Zealand. The tournament took place at Lake Inspiration between Jan 25th and February 1st, 2009. It is the 16th such event that takes place biannually.
Laura was key in propelling the Unites States to a gold medal. South Africa and Australia finished in second and third place respectively. Laura also won Bronze medals in the individual Trick and Slalom divisions. She took fourth place in the Jump event and overall. This is an outstanding accomplishment considering that Laura had very little time to train for the event. She is a sophomore attending college at Castleton State in Vermont and is a member of their women’s hockey team. That coupled with the fact that it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere made preparation difficult. Laura had only five days to train in Florida with teammate Kieth St. Onge prior to departing for New Zealand. Laura is coming off a great 2008 season where she won a gold medal in tricks, a silver medal in slalom, a bronze medal in jump, and second place overall at the US Barefoot Nationals in Black River Falls, WI.
For more information and complete results go to: http://www.usawaterski.org/default.asp?Display=539
For some great pictures of the action go to: http://www.footnfotos.com/
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