The Second Summer Tourism Festival of Song Hua Lake &
The Zhong Dong (Middle East Group) Cup International Water Skiing Open Jump Competition
Reported by Chris HowarthThe people of Jilin City, China, lying at latitude 44 degrees north were more familiar with snow skiing until 10 of the world's top ranked pro-jump skiers demonstrated their skills on the Song Hua river which runs "S" shaped through the centre of the city.
As part of Jilin's Summer Tourism Festival a Pro-jump competition was organised by the Jilin City Government and the Chinese Water Ski Association on Saturday & Sunday 29th and 30th June 2002.
Local tourism officials estimated between 100,000 and 150,000 spectators lined the banks of the river on each day.
While training was curtailed as a result of windy conditions the weather improved significantly for the competition proper.
Results based on best score over 3 jumps on each day were:
Men
Women
Skiers from the Chinese Water Ski Association performed an excellent ski show including paragliding and pyramids to entertain the spectators on both days.