Our Monday Motivation series on GuinnessWorldRecords.com profiles the inspiring stories of commitment, courage and dedication behind some of our most extraordinary titles. This week we're placing the spotlight on a team of talented water skiers, who quite literally pulled together to overcome failure.
It might not be a competition that has millions of viewers cheering at the television on a typical weekend, but there are few sports that require such precise coordination, balance, and technique as tandem water skiing.
Participants of the Big Pull 2016 event last year in Illinois know more than most of its demands.
Those who engage in the partner sport must execute extreme core strength and synchronisation, to complete various lifts and manoeuvres above one person’s head while waterskiing through a performance area.
It’s a sport that involves skis, ropes, and other equipment – but anyone involved in the sport will tell you, it always comes down to the people.
From around the country, determined couples who regularly perform the trick sport came together for an attempt at the record for Most strap doubles waterskiers water skiing simultaneously.
The Big Pull Group know the requirements all too well- just a year prior they came together to attempt this very title to no avail.
In 2015, waterskiers from around the nation had their sights on becoming record holders; the group had carefully budgeted and scheduled participants to come out for the attempt to top their years of experience with a world title.
Each person involved in the Big Pull Group’s attempt had their own set of strengths and weaknesses within the sport – but for this particular title, all members needed to be identical in skill and dexterity to achieve the record as guidelines required everyone to perform lifts and turns in complete unison.
“Strap doubles waterskiing consists of a pair of performers, usually one male and one female,” explains Eric Gran, Big Pull Coordinator “Male skiers not only need to learn to waterski very well, but also how to be towed from the hips in a strap. Both skiers spend hours of time in a gym learning the various moves. Female skiers need to be flexible and athletic. A lot of time is spent stretching and learning each of the moves.”
Not only did the record require skiers to be towed for 300 meters in the water, but each move had to be held for a minimum of five seconds.
When going at such high speeds in the water, supporting a partner midair while maintaining core balance in tandem with partners becomes a substantial challenge.
For stunts such as these, the burden of precision and accuracy falls as much on the team of skiers as it does on the boat driver who steers them.
“From the driver’s perspective: it’s all or nothing. It’s very easy to incorrectly judge the amount of power needed to get everyone skiing and there’s a sense of pressure on making the pull just right,” said driver James Hook, “In 2015, with the failed attempts, it’s sometimes difficult to separate if it was me or if it was the skiers falling that caused the failed attempt.”
“There’s a lot that needs to come together, we know the boat easily had enough power, and then the precautions and reinforcements on the boat rigging, pylon, safety release, qualified personnel riding in the boat, all are a part of making it successful and safe…the rest is up to the skiers, and my ability to give them the best possible pull.”
Several would argue this unique watersport requires significant more teamwork than other group-based sports; with such separate moving parts needed to attain the final run, it’s all too easy for one wrong move to affect the whole.
Unfortunately for the Big Pull Group, 2015 was not the year they triumphed- but that didn’t mean they would accept defeat as the ultimate outcome.
For the team, 2016 was just on the horizon and provided another opportunity to achieve success on a global standard.
So in September of that year, members of Big Pull came back to overcome the impediments faced less than a year prior – this time with even more couples than before.
With forty waterskiers to coordinate, they not only wanted to face the record head on, but go above and beyond to prove they could overcome their own set of challenges.
The sport remains one of the most the most iconic stunts on the water, but due to its physical demands, is equally as dangerous due to the secure strap that harnesses the skier to the boat, and the ability for partners to fall out while transitioning movements.
For this grand scale attempt, the biggest obstacle Big Pull faced was their size, as pulling the weight of 20 couples creates a significant amount of momentum, which make it difficult to remain upright with any turns the boat makes.
“With such a large line, the skiers tended to get sucked to the inside of the turn where the speed decelerates and they would begin to sink in the water. The challenge was to resist the boat harder and get positioned to the outside of the turn.”
But with a determined mindset, the group quite literally pulled together accomplish the attempt that would help them make history.
Take a look at their run below.
Living up to their name, the third and final attempt was the one that got Big Pull group the impressive record. '
“Every performer had years of experience skiing individually,” mentioned Gran, “We spent large amounts of time as organisers thinking through problems such as how to hook that many people to the boat, how far back from the boat we needed to be and how to assemble a starting platform large enough to hold everyone. Once all the logistics were figured out, it was a matter of putting everyone out there and seeing what happened.”
Upon completing the requirements on skis, couples began cheering, celebrating, and high-fiving, all while waterskiing.
Many of the pairs became emotional towards the end of the event, including father Mark Mahan who received the remarkable opportunity to accomplish this feat with his daughter.
Summing up their hard work and valiant efforts well, Justin Spiegelhoff stated, “The feeling is indescribable. It has been a dream for a long time to be a Guinness World Record title holder. It helps make all the time, blood, sweat and tears worthwhile.”
Even for driver James Hook, the journey the team had come across, and the sense of family and community they had harnessed while together, was truly remarkable.
“After each attempt, it’s an amazing feeling knowing that we’re coming together as a group to do something that will be on the world stage. Our life lesson? Never give up. There’s a way to make your goals happen, keep trying because you can succeed.”
The burden of precision and accuracy falls as much on the team of skiers as it does on the boat driver who steers them.
In 2015, Big Pull had their sights on becoming record holders with the team members they had so carefully budgeted and scheduled to come out for the attempt – but for several reasons, including a culmination of expertise and facility, they failed to triumph.
“From the driver’s perspective: it’s all or nothing. It’s very easy to incorrectly judge the amount of power needed to get everyone skiing and there’s a sense of pressure on making the pull just right,” said driver James Hook, “In 2015, with the failed attempts, it’s sometimes difficult to separate if it was me or if it was the skiers falling that caused the failed attempt.”
“There’s a lot that needs to come together, we know the boat easily had enough power, and then the precautions and reinforcements on the boat rigging, pylon, safety release, qualified personnel riding in the boat, all are a part of making it successful and safe…the rest is up to the skiers, and my ability to give them the best possible pull.”
After leaving with disappointment that year, the team vowed to have another ending to their annual gathering.
Now, with twenty pairs, they would need a lot more synchronisation to overcome the adversities this title required, such as achieving a minimum distance of 300 m while completing two unified stunts during the ongoing process.
One of the top challenges of the record was the circuit the boat was following; pulling the weight of 20 couples creates a significant amount of momentum, which make it difficult to remain upright with any turns the boat makes.
“With such a large line, the skiers tended to get sucked to the inside of the turn where the speed decelerates and they would begin to sink in the water. The challenge was to resist the boat harder and get positioned to the outside of the turn.”
Luckily, the third and final attempt was the one that got Big Pull group the impressive record. '
Upon completing the requirements on skis, couples began cheering, celebrating, and high-fiving, all while waterskiing.
Many of the pairs became emotional towards the end of the event, including father Mark Mahan who received the remarkable opportunity to accomplish this feat with his daughter.
Summing up their hard work and valiant efforts well, Justin Spiegelhoff stated, “The feeling is indescribable. It has been a dream for a long time to be a Guinness Record Holder. It helps make all the time, blood, sweat and tears worthwhile.”
Even for driver James Hook, the journey the team had come across, and the sense of family and community they had harnessed while together, was truly remarkable.
“After each attempt, it’s an amazing feeling knowing that we’re coming together as a group to do something that will be on the world stage. Our life lesson? Never give up. There’s a way to make your goals happen, keep trying because you can succeed.”
For now, Big Pull has quite the reputation to uphold in the coming future.
As 12-time national record holders and 4-time Guinness World Records holders, they are aiming to follow up this victory by attending Chain Of Records (COR), and event that hosts over 300 skiers each year with the hopes that all attendees will break national records and ultimately Guinness World Records titles over a four day period.
Aside from that, the proficient group will be aiming to break a record they already have, for Largest human water-skiing pyramid using a 72 person waterski pyramid to break the current standard of 60 people.
Though this will require nearly double the participants and harmonization than the recent title they just achieved – based on their strong streak, we expect them to wade right through it.