Over the past few months we have checked in with six of our seven NCWSA record holders–Lauren Morgan, Zack Worden, Will Asher, Manon Costard, Samantha Dumala, and Erika Lang–and they have reflected on their record setting performances, what they are up to now, and their collegiate skiing memories. Our final record holder spotlight features our Men’s Trick record holder, Dylan Schaffer (Instagram).
Dylan recently graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Instagram |Facebook). Before attending ULL, Dylan was at the University of Alabama (Instagram |Facebook). He broke the Men’s Trick record at the 2014 NCWSA All Stars Tournament at Stillwater Lakes in Palm Bay, Florida with 7050 points. Given this information, it is not surprising that Dylan’s favorite event is trick!
Dylan’s favorite memory from collegiate skiing was the 2014 Collegiate All Stars tournament where he broke the NCWSA trick record. Dylan says that tournament “was probably the most fun tournament I have ever been to. Not because I broke the record or anything, but because of the off the water things all the skiers did together. After the tournament skiers from all the regions went to Cocoa Beach and went surfing together. Seeing all the people from different regions hanging out and having fun together was what really made that tournament special.”
He reflects on being a record holder: “It is awesome being able to see my name next to the names of all the other record holders. It is just a testament to all the hard work I put in paying off, but I couldn’t have done it without the help of my parents. To me the record was really for my parents to say thank you for everything they have done for me. Without them I may have not have ever had the opportunity to break the record.”
Dylan spent his first few collegiate tournaments focused on high scores and skiing well. However, after a couple of collegiate tournaments and experiencing the collegiate water skiing culture, Dylan says, “I started to understand that collegiate skiing is all about meeting new people and getting back to why we all started this sport in the first place… and that is because water skiing and the people involved with water skiing are a lot of fun.” We can’t argue with that logic!
Even though Dylan was out eligibility in his find year at ULL, he has still been actively involved in the water ski community inside and outside of collegiate skiing. In September 2016 Dylan, along with fellow record holder Lauren Morgan, represented Team USA at the World University Water Ski Championships. At the World University Championships Dylan skied to a bronze medal in tricks, and won gold with Team USA. Beyond collegiate skiing, he skied the Moomba Masters in Australia this past spring, and skied his way to a 3rd overall placement! Dylan also spends a lot of time coaching future skiers! According to him, “there is nothing like teaching someone how to water ski, and seeing the joy in that person once they accomplish their goal.”
Dylan Schaffer’s Record Breaking Trick Run
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