If the term “water skiing” conjures images of the clear, blue water of coastal Florida, it may be surprising to find that the best collegiate skiing takes place on the swampy waters of Louisiana.
“If you think water skiing, a lot of times you think Florida, but your collegiate powerhouses are here in Louisiana,” said Jay Bennett, owner of Bennett’s Water Ski and Wakeboarding School in Zachary, which is considered one of the world’s top ski schools.
University of Louisiana-Monroe and University of Louisiana-Lafayette share 28 of 33 National Collegiate Water Ski Association national titles. Along with Bennett’s, which was also established 33 years ago, they form a strong Southeastern Louisiana water ski tradition the recently reformed LSU Water Ski Club is looking to build on.
“I’ve been working hard,” said mass communication junior Jaime Wallace, club co-founder and president. “I’m trying to get [the team] going really good so when I graduate it’ll be stable and hopefully like these other teams out here [at the 2011 national tournament] and be right up there competing with together.”
 
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Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]