Regina Jaquess, Freddy Krueger Selected Athletes Of The Year
by USA Water Ski & Wake Sports
USA Water Ski & Wake Sports and its respective sport discipline organizations are pleased to announce respective award recipients for 2023. Regina Jaquess (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.) has been selected USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ 2023 Female Athlete of the Year; Freddy Krueger (Winter Garden, Fla.) has been selected USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ 2023 Male Athlete of the Year; and the USA Adaptive Water Ski Team has earned USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ 2023 Team of the Year honors.
The award recipients will be honored at USA Water Ski & Wake Sports’ Annual Awards Banquet, presented by Visit Central Florida, on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Fla. A limited number of tickets to the banquet are available to the public. Ticket includes cash-bar reception, dinner and awards presentation. Tickets can only be purchased online: https://centralfloridatix.com/events/usa-water-ski-wake-sports-annual-awards-banquet-1-27-2024. Buy your banquet tickets early – $75 Early Bird (until Dec. 31, 2023); $85 regular price (Jan. 1-12, 2024); No tickets available after Jan. 12, 2024.
Jaquess won women’s slalom titles at the Swiss Pro Slalom, Nautique Masters, Goode Water Ski National Championships, MasterCraft Pro, California Water Ski Pro Am, and Pan American Games, and she set a new world slalom record of 5 buoys at 41 feet off at the 2023 Malibu Open. She won jump titles at the King of Darkness and Pan American Games and recorded top-four placements at the IWWF Water Ski World Championships, Malibu Open and MasterCraft Pro. She also won the gold medal in overall at the Goode Water Ski National Championships and Pan American Games, and earned the bronze medal at the IWWF Water Ski World Championships.
Krueger was the most dominant U.S. men’s jumper in 2023, winning titles at the King of Darkness, Goode Water Ski National Championships, MasterCraft Pro, and Malibu Open. He earned the silver medal at the IWWF World Waterski Championships as a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. Elite Water Ski Team, and he placed second at the California Water Ski Pro Am and third at the Nautique Masters.
The USA Adaptive Water Ski Team won the gold medal at the 15th Barbara Bolding/Jim Grew Fund Disabled Water Ski World Championships, Sept. 11-17, at Shortline Lake in Elk Grove, Calif. U.S. team members earned a total of 27 individual medals, including 11 gold, 10 silver and 6 bronze. Members of the 2023 USA Adaptive Water Ski Team were: Cam Delligatti (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Standing Men; Abigayle Dunn (Susanville, Calif.) – Seated Women; Nicholas Fairall (Andover, N.H.) – Seated Men; Chad Guzman (Gilbert, Ariz.) – Seated Men; Elijah Hager (Alexis, N.C.) – Seated Men; Katie Mawby (Grand Haven, Mich.) – Vision Impaired Women; Elisha Nelson (Woodland, Calif.) – Standing Women; Connor Poggetto (Sacramento, Calif.) – Seated Men; Mike Royal (Magnolia, Texas) – Vision Impaired Men; Gregg Stokes (Rocky Mount, N.C.) – Standing Men; Sarah Switzer (Madison, Ala.) – Seated Women; Craig Timm (Center City, Minn.) – Standing Men; and Chuck Wesson (Charlotte, N.C.) – Seated Men. Jessica Van Dyk (Grand Rapids, Mich.) served as the U.S. team manager; Susan Richey (Palatine, Ill.) was the assistant manager; Brian Detrick (Elk Grove, Calif.) was the coach; and Dr. Keith Barbour (Monroe, Mich.) served as the team physician.
Additional 2023 awards from USA Water Ski & Wake Sports and its respective sport discipline organizations are as follows:
• USA Water Ski & Wake Sports: Dave Allen (Marlborough, Mass.), Mark Crone (Maitland, Fla.) and Jim Meis (Tallahassee, Fla.), Volunteers of the Year (American Water Ski Association); Lori Krueger (Martindale, Texas), Coach of the Year (American Water Ski Association); Sunset Lakes Ski Club (Groveland, Fla.), Club of the Year (American Water Ski Association); and Jaeden Eade (Clermont, Fla.), Junior Athlete of the Year (American Water Ski Association).
• American Barefoot Club: Brian and Linda Heeney (Helena, Mont.), Volunteers of the Year; Amara Bruns (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Rising Superstar; Megan Adams (Center City, Minn.), Female Athlete of the Year; Brody Meskers (Chetek, Wis.), Male Athlete of the Year; and U.S. Junior Barefoot Water Ski Team – Carter Boerman (Bristol, Wis.), Amara Bruns (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Orval Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.), Noah Kinnaman (Lake St. Louis, Mo.), Cameron Patton (Lake St. Louis, Mo.), Brett Swanbom (Groveland, Fla.) and Brody Meskers (Chetek, Wis.), Coach – Team of the Year.
• American Water Ski Association: Chip Shand (Falls Church, Va.), Volunteer of the Year; Jaeden Eade (Clermont, Fla.), Junior Athlete of the Year; Erika Lang (Gilbert, Ariz.), Female Tricks Skier of the Year and Athlete of the Year; Jake Abelson (Holderness, N.H.), Male Tricks Skier of the Year and Male Overall Skier of the Year; Regina Jaquess (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.), Female Slalom Skier of the Year, Female Jump Skier of the Year and Female Overall Skier of the Year; Freddy Krueger (Winter Garden, Fla.), Male Jump Skier of the Year; Nate Smith (McCordsville, Ind.), Male Slalom Skier of the Year; and U.S. Elite Water Ski Team – Anna Gay (Winter Garden, Fla.), Kennedy Hansen (Milton, Fla.), Regina Jaquess (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.), Freddy Krueger (Winter Garden, Fla.), Erika Lang (Gilbert, Ariz.), Nate Smith (McCordsville, Ind.), Lori Krueger (Martindale, Texas), Team Coach, and Kerri Lee (Zachary, La.), Team Manager - Team of the Year.
• National Collegiate Water Ski Association: Virginia Dozier (Columbus, Ga.), Female Outstanding Leader; Carter Eaton (Anchorage, Alaska), Male Outstanding Leader; Neilly Ross (Winter Garden, Fla.), Female Athlete of the Year; Arron Davies (Lafayette, La.), Male Athlete of the Year; and University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kan.), Team of the Year.
• National Show Ski Association: Kevin Hayes (Lakeland, Fla.), Honorary National Director; Alice Jensen (Janesville, Wis.), Official of the Year; Wayne Borowski (Twin Lakes, Wis.) and George Hartmann (Wonder Lake, Ill.), Volunteers of the Year (“The Future of Jump Is Now”); the Ski Broncs (Loves Park, Ill.), That’s Incredible Award (Prefab 4-high pyramid); Grace Petzold (Mequon, Wis.), Female Athlete of the Year; Derek Buchman (Cameron, Wis.), Male Athlete of the Year; Rock Aqua Jays (Janesville, Wis.), Club of the Year; and Sherry Olson (Winter Haven, Fla.), President’s Award.
• National Water Ski Racing Association: Rayson Normandin (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Gage Goldsmith (Los Alamitos, Calif.), Co-Most Improved Athletes; Sophia Rivera (Seal Beach, Calif.), Female Athlete of the Year; Ryder Tovatt (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Male Athlete of the Year; and Ty Cheshier (Valencia, Calif.), President’s Award.
• USA Adaptive Water Ski & Wake Sports: Bill Furbish (Atlanta, Ga.), Volunteer of the Year; Elisha Nelson (Woodland, Calif.), Female Athlete of the Year; and Connor Poggetto (Sacramento, Calif.), Male Athlete of the Year.
• USA Wakeboard: Mary Morgan Howell (Dothan, Ala.), Female Athlete of the Year; and Daniel Johnson (Statesville, N.C.), Male Athlete of the Year.
The 2023 award winners were selected either by the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Awards Committee or by the respective sport discipline organization. The American Kneeboard Association and the United States Hydrofoil Association did not present awards.