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ROY — After only learning about the sport a year earlier, a Utah boy recently took gold in several categories at the Barefoot Water Ski National Championships.
Roy resident Brett Olsen said his 9-year-old son, Easton, was first introduced to barefoot water skiing in June 2014. Olsen said his family was at a lake and Easton asked him if he'd ever been water skiing.
"I told him that me and my brothers used to barefoot water ski," Olsen said. "He was kind of curious about what that was and so he went home and looked it up online and found some videos on YouTube of the world champions. From there, he really wanted to do it."
Easton decided he wanted to learn from the best, so he painted pictures to raise money so he could attend the World Barefoot Center in Florida. Olsen said his son painted dozens of pictures of barefoot skiers and raised about $2,500 selling them online.
In April, Easton took classes and trained at the World Barefoot Center for about a week. He then entered to compete at a state competition in Helena, Montana, in June, where he qualified for the regional competition. In July, Easton competed at the regional competition in Washington and took first in his age division.
Olsen said in between competitions, Easton would tie a rope to a banister in their home and continually practice handholds and his form for different tricks.
"He's kind of obsessed, very passionate about it," Olsen said.
Easton went on to compete at the 38th annual Barefoot Water Ski National Championships in Wisconsin on Aug. 11-15 and took first place in slalom, tricks and overall for Junior Boys 1. Olsen said his son did some advanced tricks in competition, including skiing on one foot while holding the rope with his other foot and doing a 180, landing on his back and getting back up onto one foot.
Although his son is new to the sport, Olsen said the family felt a lot of support from the barefoot skiing community.
"The barefooting community worldwide has really chipped in and really supported him," Olsen said. "When we first went down to (the) World Barefoot Center and met all the people there, it was like family. … It's these people that you don't really know, but then you meet them and there is a connection. The people that are in the sport are just really good people."
Easton hopes to compete in the [2016 Barefoot Water Ski World Championships.
