Blogs » Opinion Matters

Janesville welcomes the world (skiers)

By GREG PECK ( Contact ) Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 2:29 p.m.

Long before Paul Ryan’s ascension to the top GOP ranks shined a spotlight on his hometown, the Rock Aqua Jays water ski team in large part was responsible for putting Janesville on the national map. After all, the Aqua Jays have hosted national ski tournaments 23 times.

Starting Wednesday, top skiers from around the globe will be using the Aqua Jays’ fine facilities on the Rock River in Traxler Park as they practice for this weekend’s World Water Ski Show Tournament. Janesville got a feather in its cap as the host of this first-ever event.

The opening ceremony is at 6 p.m. Friday, and teams from the United States, China, Canada, Australia and Belgium will compete starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. They’ll draw running orders before action begins Saturday. Select members of the Aqua Jays are part of Team USA.

You don’t have to wait until the weekend to watch some this world-class talent. Teams will be practicing from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.

Besides the chance to watch some of water skiing’s finest jumpers, barefooters and swivelers, the event is a great boon to Janesville economically, socially and culturally, as our editorial Wednesday will explain.

Janesville, let’s put our best foot forward.

Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook

reader COMMENTS

No reader comments yet posted

(0)

Before you post a comment, consider this:

Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy Agreement

Keep it clean. Comments that are obscene, vulgar or sexually oriented will be removed. Creative spelling of such terms or implied use of such language is banned, also.
Don't threaten to hurt or kill anyone.
Be nice. No racism, sexism or any other sort of -ism that degrades another person.
Harassing comments. If you are the subject of a harassing comment or personal attack by another user, do not respond in-kind. Hit the "Suggest Removal" button on offensive comments.
Share what you know. Give us your eyewitness accounts, background, observations and history.
Do not libel anyone. Libel is writing something false about someone that damages that person's reputation.
Ask questions. What more do you want to know about the story?
Stay focused. Keep on the story's topic.
Help us get it right. If you spot a factual error or misspelling, email newsroom@gazettextra.com or call 1-800-362-6712.
Remember, this is our site. We set the rules, and we reserve the right to remove any comments that we deem inappropriate.

Post Comment

Commenting requires registration.

News:

Opinion:

Blogs | Columns | Political Cartoons | Polls

Sports:

Multimedia:

Community:

Births | Couples | Obituaries | Death Notices

Blogs

Blog List | Latest Blog Entries

Services:

Reader Rewards | Retail Locations

Copyright ©2007 Bliss Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Use of this material and this site are subject to the GazetteExtra Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Content may not be published, broadcast, re-distributed or re-written.