Starting a new sport can be scary and exciting, especially when one has no experience going into it. Revere graduate Megan Gilroy started water skiing at age fifteen in high school and now competes regionally and nationally all over the country. Through this experience, she has made new friends and acquired great memories.

Gilroy now attends Ohio State University. She has recently started to water ski competitively on the college water ski team. Gilroy never competed until college and did not even know it was a possibility until the start of her college career. The college practices at White Sulphur Lake.

Since she started, she has made many friends whom she still sees even after the season has ended. Gilroy explains her achievements in the sport.

“The team came in seventh in the nation this year at nationals. At regionals we were ranked second in the midwest behind University of Kansas. For personal accomplishments, at conference competition, I came in first overall for women’s in all three events,” Gilroy said.

There are a few events in which to compete, and they all require a different skill set. The events include jumping, tricks, and slalom. Gilroy describes the different events she witnessed.

“We have the jump that people go off of. It’s about 5 feet tall and the furthest I’ve ever seen is [about] 150 feet. It’s so crazy and people jump off ramps and try to get distance for that. Then we have tricks and you go on special skis and people do things like flips. The only thing I can do is spin around and ski sideways. Also, there’s a slalom course that you ski around. It is kind of like an obstacle course you have to try and get around,” Gilroy said.

Fellow teammate Jami Fancher joined the team when she was a freshman and had not known water skiing was counted as a competitive sport as well. Fancher describes how she came into the sport.

“I learned to water ski when I was about ten, but I stopped for a bit. I didn’t come back to it until I was in college, so my freshman year we had a spring break trip and it was to a water ski school in Louisiana, and that’s how I learned to water ski competitively,” Fancher said.

Revere High School Football coach Lyle Kniep also water skied at Ohio State University when he was in college. He has been skiing since he was three because his father was a water skier. Kniep says he still talks to some of his teammates from the team and remembers going to the different competitions.

Beginning the sport in high school gives a student opportunities to accomplish even more on a college level. One could even travel all the way to Louisiana for a competition, Gilroy gave advice to students wanting to start.

“[Water skiing] is so fun. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve done in college. It’s really cool because you hangout all day at a lake with your best friends, and it’s just a really great environment. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or not. We all have fun doing it.” Gilroy said.

Water skiing challenges athletes to work on their balance and strength. For most, water skiing is something new to try and differs from the usual variety of college sports. Gilroy and Fancher both love the experiences they have had on the team and are thankful for the rest of the people that have helped them to accomplish everything they can.