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Bull wins gold at World Open Waterski Championships

It has been an amazing couple of weeks on the water for North Bay waterskier Jaimee Bull. In early October, she competed in The Malibu Open pro ski tournament held each year in Charleston, South Carolina.
20211015 Jaimee Bull
Photo submitted.

It has been an amazing couple of weeks on the water for North Bay waterskier Jaimee Bull. 

In early October, she competed in The Malibu Open pro ski tournament held each year in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jaimee had just successfully defended her U21 World Waterski championship title in late August and had spent most of September getting her schooling organized for the semester and was not feeling too confident about getting back into the pro waterski scene. However, in the preliminary round at Malibu, she skied well running 5 buoys @ 10.75 m (39.5' off), which advanced her to the semi-final round. In the semis, she didn't feel as comfortable posting only a score of 3 buoys @ 10.75 m, which forced a run-off with Karen Truelove of the USA that she won, allowing Jaimee to advance into the final round. In the finals, she was seeded 4th and went off the dock first, and was able to put up a great score of 2 @ 10.25m or 41' off. Manon Costard of France was seeded 3rd and scored 0.5 buoys @ 10.25 m. Regina Jaquess of the USA, seeded 2nd could only manage a score of 1 buoy @ 10.25 m and top seed Whitney McClintock originally from Canada was able to squeak around 2 ball at 10.25 m to force a run off with Jaimee for the championship. This was a historic final round of competition, as it was the very first time all 4 women in a final round were able to run the 10.75 m line length and advance to the 10.25 m . In the finals run off, both women were required to start at 11.25 m, which is a very difficult pass. Jaimee was first of the dock in the run off and was able to complete the 11. 25 m line length eventually scoring 3.5 buoys @ 10.75 m. Whitney also ran through 11.25 m and ran 4 buoys @ 10.75 m to secure the win putting Jaimee in second spot.

The Malibu even was great training for Jaimee as it put her back into the competitive mode.

Jaimee immediately went to Florida after Malibu to participate in the Team Canada training camp held near Clermont, Florida to prepare for the upcoming World Waterski Championships at Jack Travers Waterski School at Sunset Lakes Florida near Groveland.

Jaimee was excited for worlds, as Jack's is her home training site in Florida.

In the qualifying round of competition, Jaimee skied well enough to ensure she was in the finals, standing up around 3 ball at 10.75 m. She knew there would be higher scores, but she was trying to position herself in the middle of the pack for finals, hoping it would relieve some stress in the final round. Whitney McClintock and Regina Jaquess both scored 1 buoy @ 10.25 m and Manon Costard ran 4 buoys @ 10.75 m to leave Jaimee in fourth, which she considered to be a perfect spot going into the final round.

In the finals, she once again posted a huge score of 2 @ 10.25 m, which was a world championship tournament record score. This put the pressure on the rest of the field and it worked. Manon Costard, the defending world champ from 2019 in Malaysia could only muster 4.5 buoys at 10.75 m for the bronze medal and Regina Jaquess, the world champion from the Paris Worlds in 2017 rounded 1 ball at 10.25 m, but could not get around 2 ball, finishing second with the silver medal. This meant the Jaimee's score of [email protected] m was enough to keep her in first place and win the gold medal at the 2021 World Waterski Championships!

This win secures her top position for 2021 in the women's waterski pro tour standings as she has won 5 major events this season and finished second in the remaining three.

She returns to the University of Louisiana this week to get back into the University routine, but must begin to prepare for the upcoming USA Collegiate Nationals Tournament to be held near Baton Rouge Louisiana next week.

Bull is a two-time defending champion and record holder in that event. The University of Louisiana is also defending team champion for 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.