Barefoot Skiing - Overview

Barefoot skiing is an adventurous water sport which is popular in coastal countries. In this sport, the skier holds a rope which is attached to the boat. The sport demands the athlete to be on his/her ski. The speed of the boat depends on the weight of the athelete.

The aim of this sport is to enjoy yourself in the deep water by wearing skis on your foot and to float over water through a boat. The sport is very encouraging hence, lots of people try this out in their adolescence. The best part of this sport is that there is no age limit and both men and women can participate in this sport.

A Brief History of Barefoot Skiing

Barefoot aquatic skiing sport was first addressed by Ralph Wilford Samuelson. The water skiing sport was first induced in the chain of Lake City, Florida.

• The first person who played this aquatic sport was 17 year old A. G. Hancock in the year of 1947 and Richard Downing was the first photographer of that event. Richard Downing took the photos of the ski along with the boat.

• The first woman player of this sport was Charlene Zint in 1951.

• During the 1950s, a new approach was added to this sport. Ken Tibado came up with two-ski jump and in 1958, Joe Cash came with deep water start.

• The Tumble-turn device was first introduced in 1960 when Terry Vance stepped-off with his playmate Don Thomson.

• The first backward bare footer was Randy Rabe who came up with the backward ski technique in the year of 1961.

• The first famous person was Don Thomson who performed both back-to-front and front-to-back retraction in a drive at Cypress Garden in early 1960s.