Muskego Water Bugs Head to Nationals

After placing 6th at the Wisconsin regional competition, the Muskego Water Bugs show ski team is competing on the national level in Janesville this weekend.

Scheduled to go on Sunday, August 14 at 7:30 a.m., their chances are good, as they have consistently shown well with tricks, jumps and pyramids, according to show director Jon Nelson.

"Two of our guys, Geoff Stone and Craig Planton, placed 2nd and 3rd at regionals in the freestyle jump, so we are pretty confident we will be competitive this weekend," said Nelson.

Club Vice President Allison Planton also pointed out that Craig (her brother) took first at the Malibu Open held at Milwaukee's lakefront last weekend.

Wisconsin has 24 teams that compete in show skiing and has its own region; the Water Bugs are considered a Division I team as it has placed first more than once as a Division II team.  That prestige has come about after a strong schedule of practice as well as the club structure itself.

"It comes down to the organization," Nelson said.  "We are always looking to improve, and we just have a strong group of people in the organization to keep us together and working toward that goal of improving."

"We are also working year-round, really - we start working on pyramids in November indoors, and keep working with the new skiers throughout the year so we're ready to go when we get in the water in spring," Planton added.

The team consists of 80 children and adults, with "about 75 percent" of them coming from Muskego.  In addition, 60 of those 80 are active skiers in the club, giving the team a great depth.

The goal for the Water Bugs, which practices throughout the week at , is to consistently to place in the top five, and with stiff competition coming from 'larger market' teams like Janesville's Rock Aqua Jays and Madison's Mad City Ski Team, it's a lofty one.  Muskego is one of fourteen show ski clubs that will be competing in this year's tournament.

The 37th Division 1 Show Ski National Championships will be held Friday through Sunday at Traxler Park in Janesville, Wis. Hosted by the Rock Aqua Jays, the tournament will feature more than 1,500 athletes competing for the coveted show ski national title.  

If you'd like to tune in, the team competition on Saturday (Aug. 13) and Sunday (Aug. 14) will be available for viewing via a live Webcast at http://waterski.teamusa.org/live. Mobile phone users can view the Webcast at http://mobile.livestream.com/usoc.