Full details of the 2006 calendar of events for the well
established Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup series were released today in
Switzerland by Kuno Ritschard, President of the International Waterski
Federation.
The World Cup series has brought the highest ranked Waterski
and Wakeboard athletes to major downtown locations over the past two years to
maximize exposure to the public. In 2006, the inclusion of an exotic location as
the first Stop of the season will mark a new trend to further broaden the appeal
and in particular for TV audiences. With a total of seven confirmed Stops on the
schedule, this will be the biggest World Cup series to date.
APRIL 14-16 |
WORLD CUP |
WATERSKI |
LANGKAWI ISLAND, MALAYSIA |
APRIL 20-22 |
WORLD CUP |
WAKEBOARD & SHORTBOARD |
DOHA, QATAR |
JUNE 16-18 |
WORLD CUP |
WAKEBOARD |
ENGHIENS-LES-BAINS - FRANCE |
JUNE 23-25 |
WORLD CUP |
WATERSKI |
FOBAN EMIN CLUB, BEIJING, CHINA |
JULY 29-30 |
WORLD CUP |
WATERSKI |
DUBNA, RUSSIA |
AUGUST 11-13 |
WORLD CUP |
WATERSKI |
ENNISKILLEN. NORTHERN IRELAND |
SEPT - TBA |
WORLD CUP |
WAKEBOARD |
BEDOK RESERVOIR, SINGAPORE |
The total Cash Prize fund of $700,000 will include an end-of-season
bonus with the accumulated points won by each athlete used to declare the
overall winners. As in previous years, the events included will be Slalom,
Shortboard, Jump and Wakeboard. New additions in 2006 will be the Stops on
Langkawi Island in Malaysia and in Beijing in China. Both are quite spectacular
in their own way. This will also be the first major international event of this
kind ever staged at these locations.
The progress of the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup series
can be followed on
www.iwsf.com throughout the
season. A special 26 minute edited TV show for each Stop will also be
distributed around the World by
www.proactivetv.com
The reigning World Cup champions will all return to defend their titles
in 2006. Slalom Champions, Michelle Simpson (USA) and Jodi Fisher (GBR) are
currently training in Florida. Shortboard Champions Clementine Lucine (FRA) and
Nicolas LeForestier (FRA) are training in France and South Africa. Jump Champion
June Fladborg (DEN) has returned to College in her home country and Jaret
Llewellyn (CAN) is training in Florida. Wakeboard Champions Louise Moore (GBR)
and Phillip Soven (USA) have also begun their preparations for the new year.
Emma Sheers (AUS) has just announced that she will miss the 2006 World Cup
season as she and her husband Rick are expecting their first child in May and
will be based in Queensland during the year. As the woman who dominated Slalom
and Jump in recent times, taking both World Titles in 2003, Sheers was a strong
contender for a 2006 title in the World Cup series.
MasterCraft will continue to provide all the specialized
competition boats throughout the season (
www.mastercraft.com) and they are already
planning the logistics challenge ahead.