The Water Skier Magazine’s Hit It Podcast

Be sure to check out Episode 22 of The Water Skier magazine's Hit It! podcast, presented by Visit Central Florida. Hall of Fame water ski coach Jack Travers and his son, professional slalom skier Jon Travers, catch up with host Tyler Boyd to discuss the upcoming IWWF World Waterski Championships, the ins and outs of operating a storied water ski school, Jon’s continued success of the professional...

Fresh off her first pro victory of 2023 and the most recent female athlete to run 39-1/2 off, rising slalom superstar Allie Nicholson catches up with host Tyler Boyd to discuss her love of water skiing, her breakout 2023 season, her role with The Water Ski Broadcasting Company, and much more.   

What do you do after a 16-year football career? Former NFL kicker David Akers joins the Hit It! Podcast to talk about his unlikely journey from football kicker to slalom skier, the similarities between the two disciplines, and how his competitive drive continues to fuel his endeavors today.

The only water skier to win pro tour championship titles in both slalom and jumping, Carl Roberge earned more than 100 professional victories, including 21 U.S. Open titles and eight Masters championships in slalom, jumping and overall. Incredibly, in 1996, he went undefeated in jumping on the pro tour. Carl shares his memories about being a member of six U.S. teams, how technology has made the sp...

While most may know her as Miss America 2023, this nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin destresses by water skiing. Grace shares with us her experiences as a member of the Wisconsin team, how water skiing prepared her for the trials of the tiara, and her plans for the future.   This episode of The Water Skier Magazine’s Hit It! Podcast is proudly sponsored by Radar Skis. Rada...

One of the dominant overall water ski athletes of her era, 20-time U.S. National Champion Rhoni Barton-Bischoff joins the Hit It! podcast to talk about how coaching has extended her water ski career and the business behind coordinating the prestigious Nautique Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament.

One of the most sought after coaches in three-event water skiing, Chet Raley joins the Hit It Podcast to talk technique, his methodology and how his passion for the sport keeps him young.

While he’ll be inducted into the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in April, Jimmy Siemers is far from finished in the world of water skiing. The three-time world record holder and three-time world champion joins us to talk about not only his Hall of Fame career, but where his passion for the sport is taking him now.

Both a top women’s trick skier as well as a top wakeboarder, Erika Lang joins the podcast to talk the pending 2023 season, what it takes to break world records and the high level competition in the women’s trick category.

Only 13 years old when he broke the men’s world slalom record – and only 14 when he won the Master’s for the first time – legendary water ski athlete Kris LaPoint isn’t done yet. From the science behind water skis to his desire to keep competing, if you are into slalom skiing, you don’t want to miss this episode.   

Jay Bennett, whose water ski and wakeboard school in Zachary, La., is one of the best known in the business, joins the Hit It! podcast to talk coaching, his time as an athlete, running a top-notch ski school and, of course, the return of the LA Night Jam. For more information on Bennett Ski School, go to skibennetts.com For more information on the LA Night Jam, go to lanightjam.com And for all the...

Class of 2023 USA Waterski and Wake Sports Hall of Fame inductee Keith St. Onge joins the Hit It podcast to talk about his legendary career. Having racked up 14 world championships and 19 U.S. national overall titles, Keith talks about his journey from the New Hampshire to Florida, lessons learned along the path of his career, and what it was like to win a gold medal as part of Team USA in the 202...

Tyler is joined by Jeff Surdej – a past chairman of the National Collegiate Water Ski Association – and Marcus Brown, the man so familiar to college water skiing that his likeness is on the logo. Together they discuss the culture of collegiate skiing, the current state of the sport, and offer a preview of next week’s Syndicate Waterskis 43rd Collegiate Water Ski National Championships.

Host Tyler Boyd catches up with The Water Skier magazine’s latest cover athlete - Lauren Morgan, who talks about her breakthrough summer starting with her huge win at the Nautique Masters. Even more impressive, Lauren lets us in on all that she is doing off the water as well.

The 80th GOODE Water Ski Nationals are being held Aug. 7-13 at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kansas. The nation’s top water ski athletes will compete for national titles in slalom, tricks, jumping and overall in respective age divisions and two Open divisions during the seven-day event. To view the live webcast, live scoring and daily recaps, visit www.waterskinationals.com . In this episode we talk to D...

Friends, competitors and co-show directors of the 2022 USA Water Ski Show Team that will compete in Winter Haven, Florida, in the 2022 IWWF World Water Ski Show Tournament, Dave Rezin and Matt Heilman share a bond forged over water skiing.  We'll talk show ski, the passion for the discipline in Wisconsin, and what it means to them to represent their nation on the world's biggest show ski stage.  

What does a legend do after a career ending injury?   Sammy Duvall takes us through his second act, the past, present and future of the sport, and the direction of professional skiing. 

From his breakthrough performance in 1981 at the age of 19 to his 2020-foot leap in the 90s, Sammy Duvall changed waterskiing - and its image - forever. Ranked No. 1 in the world from 1979 to 1994, Sammy Duvall remains one of the most notable names in water skiing. In this two-part interview, Sammy talks about coming up through the ranks, learning from and competing against his peers in the sport,...

Competing on the cutting edge of her discipline, Anna Gay talks about the future of tricks water skiing, being part of a water skiing family, and her vision of combining online learning with the sport. 

As the 2022 season gets under way, superstar Freddy Krueger talks about both the physical and mental aspect of the sport and his life as a family man. 

More monk than madman, Marcus Brown has transitioned from University World Champion and Australian Moomba Masters Champion to multimedia and water ski method master. Marcus joins host Tyler Boyd to talk about his career in water skiing, that famous YouTube video and how a holistic approach to mind and health will improve the sport.  

What more can you say about a four-time world overall record holder that has been named the Top Female Athlete of the Last Quarter Century by the IWWF?   How about the most remarkable comeback of all time?   Regina Jaquess joins Tyler Boyd to talk about that amazing comeback, her future in the sport and the challenges of balancing being a small business owner with also being a top international pr...

Scot "The Rocketman" Ellis closed out his incredible professional career in October at the 37th IWWF World Waterski Championship.  Host Tyler Boyd sits down with Ellis to talk about his three decades at the highest level of the sport, the invention of Ski Flying with Bruce Neville, and his future.