It’s been a busy, successful summer for a lakecity family of waterskiiers.
Lucas Pinette, 13, brother Linden Pinette, 11, and sister Lauren Pinette, 7, have all been making waves in their respective age categories at competitions locally in B.C., and throughout Canada, as they continue to sail up the ranks in the waterski world.
All three began their summer of skiing at the Grasslands Open in Kamloops at Shumway Lake July 28-29 — the home of the Kamloops Waterski Club.
Lauren is following in the footsteps of her dad, Parnell, and three older brothers in the sport and is just getting started in the competitive world of waterskiing. She finished first in the slalom event at Shumway — and also said she recently started to learn how to trick ski.
“I just love skiing, as well,” Lauren said, noting she will be competing alongside her dad and brothers at the Provincial Waterski Championships this weekend, Aug. 17-18, at McIvor Lake in Campbell River.
READ MORE: Pinette family continues to make waves in the world of waterskiing
Linden, meanwhile, who has been skiing competitively for the past two years, saw his hard work pay off at both the Grasslands Open and, more recently, at the Canadian Waterski Nationals in Saint-Donat, Que. from Aug. 7-11.
Linden skied to first-place gold medals in both the jump and trick events and earned a bronze medal in slalom, putting him in second overall in the under-12 division.
“I thought I skied pretty well,” Linden said. “I PBd (personal bested) in every event. I didn’t really think I was going to do that well, but my PB in trick (1,010 points was my favourite) because I started doing some toe tricks (at competition).”
Not to be outdone, Lucas also took his talents east to Quebec for the Canadian Waterski Nationls in the U14 division.
Lucas finished with a gold medal in jump, a gold medal in trick, a silver medal in slalom and a gold medal overall to dominate the division.
“Then at the awards banquet they announced that I would be a member of the under-14 Can-Am team for Edmonton on Labour Day weekend,” Lucas said.
READ MORE: Pinette trio to represent Canada at PanAm Waterski Championships
That team — made up of the top six waterskiers for their age group in Canada (four girls and two boys) — will face off against the top six skiers from the U.S. at Edmonton’s Shalom Park in what is classified as an international record capable tournament sanctioned by the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation.
“I’m just really excited to ski there,” Lucas said. “It should be a really nice experience, and I’m excited to hopefully get some PBs there, too.”
Prior to nationals, Lucas also competed in Saskatoon, Sask. at the Western Canadian Waterski Championships from July 26-28 whre he took second in trick, first in slalom, first in jump and first overall.
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