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Hi, I'm Kerri Vanderbom and I was a competitive water skier for about fifteen
years. I'm here at the Lakeshore pool with Aimee Bruder, who is a former paralympic
swimmer, and she wants to learn more about water skiing. So, Aimee so I know
you've been recreational skiing for awhile now what is it that you really want to work
on? I want to be able to have better balance in the water, to be able to be
more independent when getting into my ski, and being able to start myself, so that
if I wanted to go to the lake without an instructor, to be able to enjoy some fun
time on the lake. So, you want to learn how to become more independent. And
this is a really important piece of water skiing if you want to go our and ski with
your family and friends. So, being independent includes being able to
balance in the ski in the water, but first she's got to learn how to get into the ski
and go from there.
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Before Aimee gets into the pool we have to make sure the ski fits. When
transferring into the cage we want to make sure that the chair is positioned in a
way that is best for her. And she is going to put on the breaks or have someone
hold the chair while transferring.
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Now, that Aimee's in the cage I want to make sure that she is able to lean forward
as much as possible. So, by adjusting the straps on the bottom I can create more or
less dump. Just like someone might need in a sports chair. Now, that we know that
Aimee fits in the cage she's all set to get in the water. Once she's in the water
Aimee is going to work on getting into the cage and balancing herself
independently. To get into the cage there are different techniques or ways that
someone can use, Aimee chooses to go from the side.
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Now, that she's in the cage there are different ways to balance or counter
balance. Aimee will use both body positioning and moving her arms to find
the best balance for herself. You can see she puts her arms out to the side and
kinda pushes them back-and-forth. I will stay in the back and help her balance a
little and catch her from falling over just so she doesn't get worn out. And then
once she is pretty close to balancing on her own, I am going to go ahead and let
go.
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Aimee learned to balance herself in the water ski in just about ten minutes. Now,
to further challenge her I will give her the water ski handle and she is going to now
need to balance herself while holding the handle out to the side. Mimicking what
would happen while she waited for the boat to get ready. She will then need to
hold the handle out in front of her near her feet to mimic the position she would
be in while getting pulled out of the water by the boat. If you want to learn to be
independent in water skiing this is something you can do and learn before
the water ski season starts. You can just borrow a ski and a cage if you do not own
one. Call up your local recreation center pool and ask permission to get in the
water for thirty minutes. This is something that you can do with minimal
help.
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