Water skiers bring home 13 medals

A team selected by the Namibia Water Ski Association and approved by the Namibia National Sport Commission excelled at the South African Open and All-Africa Water Ski Championships on Thornlea Dam, just north of Durban, recently. The South African Open Championships started with site familiarisation and the competition commencing the next day. Weather conditions were challenging with sunshine, rain or wind alternating during the day, resulting in some competition disruptions. Chief boat drivers Martin Schmidt and Bernd Kebbel from Namibia were the only two international drivers out of four tasked to drive the boats perfectly for the four days of the open and international competition. In the South African Open Championships Namibia had to compete against water skiers from South Africa, Belgium, Zimbabwe and Morocco. Namibia's participant in the under-17 boys' class was Morné Mostert, who achieved first place in tricks and second place in slalom with a new personal best performance. In the under-21 men's category Dieter Kebbel achieved first place in tricks and second place in slalom.In the open women's class, Natascha Rottcher won the slalom and in the senior men's division Andre Mostert achieved second place in tricks and fourth place in slalom. Following the South African Open Championships prize-giving, the Namibian team members were inspired to improve on their performance during the All-Africa Water Ski Championships and to ski for their country in a team event. Morné Mostert once again clinched first place in tricks and second place in slalom. Dieter Kebbel, who now had to compete in the open men's category, came third in tricks and sixth in slalom, while André Mostert stepped up his slalom to second place and remained second in tricks. The highlight of the tournament was in the final slalom round when Natascha Rottcher set a new record for the All-Africa Tournament, which was 2.25 buoys on a 12-metre rope at a speed of 55km/h, improving the previous record by 0.25 buoys and placing her first in the open women's category. The previous record was set 12 years ago by Kim Rice of Zimbabwe with 2 buoys on a 12m rope. The scores were then compared against the best skiers' scores from Europe, Africa and Middle East to determine the All-Africa Champions or equal scoring terms. In the slalom event Natascha Rottcher was placed second, Andre Mostert sixth, Dieter Kebbel 10th and Morne Mostert 15th. In the trick event Dieter Kebbel was placed fourth, Andre Mostert fifth and Morné Mostert sixth. The final team scoring placed South Africa on top, followed closely by Namibia in second position with less than 200 points difference. Zimbabwe was third and Morocco fourth. The Namibian Water Ski Association congratulated its athletes and said their performances proved that with dedication and hard work, goals and dreams can be achieved. In total, Namibia brought home 13 medals on this trip. SPORT REPORTER

Water skiers bring home 13 medals

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-11-03

Please login to leave a comment

Water skiers bring home 13 medals

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-11-03

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content