Team Australia: Leilani Cartledge will be representing Australia at the World Water Ski Racing Championships in November. Photo: Supplied.
Echuca-Moama will be well represented at the IWWF World Water Ski Racing Championships this November, with a number of locals set to don the green and gold.
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Siblings Leilani and Kohdi Cartledge will join Emma Barnes in representing Australia, with all three having placed first in their respective divisions at the Australian team selection races.
Held across two weekends, there were four selection races in total, two each in Gosford and Mulwala, with an individual’s three best results forming the basis for selection.
Rising star Leilani, 16, smashed all four of her races, finishing first in each, to qualify for the Australian team as the top-ranked competitor in the junior girls category.
“It’s nice to know all of our hard work has paid off,” Leilani said.
“I wasn’t too sure how it was going to go, because the water in Gosford is completely different to Mulwala.
“It was a lot smoother, and I didn’t know how the other girl competitors were going to go in the rougher water at Mulwala, but it was still nice to know that we had a bit of an advantage after Gosford.”
Kohdi was in a similar position heading into the final two races at Mulwala, having claimed victory in each of the two races at Gosford.
The 15-year-old secured selection after taking out race three, with the conditions at Mulwala suiting him to perfection, although the weekend didn’t go entirely to plan after a tumble in the final race.
“I love that kind of water, so it was pretty good,” he said.
“I just lost concentration in the last lap (in the final race), and I just went in. I already had all the points anyway, so all I had to do was finish.”
The pair also shared a special moment during race three, with the junior boys and girls competing at the same time.
Realising they were both leading on the final lap, the two boats lined up next to each other to allow Kohdi and Leilani to cross the line at the same time, securing Australian team selection side by side.
Green and gold: Kohdi Cartledge will be racing for Australia in the junior boys category in Gosford at the world championships. Photo: Supplied.
While it is the first world championship team for the brother and sister, they both have international experience racing for Australia, while Kohdi also recently skied in one of America’s most prestigious races.
“We’ve skied over in New Zealand for the Trans-Tasman Challenge,” Leilani said.
“We made that team, and skied over there against the Kiwis.”
Kohdi’s American voyage was a whirlwind, getting the call-up for the 100km Catalina Ski Race, which is completed in the ocean, just three days before the event.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” he said.
“We were a tiny boat in massive water, so it was pretty hard.
“I got told on Wednesday and flew out on Thursday morning. The race was on Saturday, and I flew home on Sunday. I was stuffed.”
Despite the crazy schedule and spending more than an hour behind the boat, Kohdi trumped his adult competition to take out the prestigious race in the F2 category.
Leilani and Kohdi will meet up with the rest of the Australian team in the coming weeks to prepare for the world championships, training on the race course in Gosford.
“We’ve seen them at the selection races and stuff, but I think we’ll start doing a lot of training as a team in Gosford,” Leilani said.
“Just to get used to the course and using each other to get used to the rougher water from the boat washes.”
Moama’s Emma Barnes will also be in action in Gosford, having blitzed the field to win every qualifying race in the women’s F2 category.
It will be Barnes’ second appearance at the world championships, having represented Australia in Vichy, France in 2019, securing a fourth place overall.
The 2023 IWWF World Water Ski Racing Championships will be held in Gosford, NSW, from November 9-19.
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