Unbeatable.

Dominant.

Untouchable.

These are all terms that could describe the United States in the World University Championships. The Stars and Stripes have won every University World Water Ski Championship since the inception of the event. This includes the event of 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2011.

The 2011 United States team was made up of the following NCWSA athletes: Brian Detrick (St. Mary’s), Adam Pickos (Louisiana Monroe), Dylan Schaffer (Alabama), Tyler Lorenz (Wisconsin Madison), Alex Lauretano (Louisiana Monroe) and Lauren Morgan (Florida Southern). Coach was Robert Rhyne and Manager was Harley Wallace.

Due to the unique geographic location of the team, they all had different strategies for getting ready for this prestigious world championship. Some travelled down to Chile early to get used to the site and weather (Pickos and Morgan), some were able to ski at home (Lauretano), some just focused on staying in shape (Detrick and Schaffer) and one had to use other methods like snow skiing, running and log splitting due to his ski lake having a foot and a half of ice (Lorenz).

The team had a large variety of US National Team experience from Alex who has been on over 10 US teams, to Dylan who was on his first US team. The title was a true team effort with US athletes in the finals of all six events. Due to each member of the team having such a strong preliminary round, the team all felt like they had the tournament in good hands after just the preliminary rounds. Beyond the gold medal that the team won there was a lot of individual hardware as well. Adam Pickos took home the silver medal in Slalom after a run-off for gold. He followed that up with a gold medal in Trick. Lauren Morgan took home gold in jump and walked away with the bronze in overall. Alex Lauretano took home the gold in Trick, earned a silver in Jump, and was named the prestigious Overall University World Champion with a gold medal in overall. The US came away with 7 individual medals, including 4 of the possible 8 gold medals.

Part of the reward of representing the US in international competition is bonding with athletes from other countries. When asked who the US team bonded with the most, they all had different answers. New Zealand, Italy, Czech Republic and Chile were all named. And it was no surprise that when asked who was the biggest threat to taking the title, the silver and bronze medalists Czech Republic and Chile were both mentioned.

While opinions were different in some topics, there was one question that everyone agreed on – the Miranda’s world-class water ski site. Here are some quotes from the Americans.

-“It is my favorite site in the world. It can be tough, but it is definitely the most beautiful.”

-“Perfect. The best conditions I have ever skied.”

-“It’s awesome! Can’t wait to come back for the elite Worlds in 2013!”

-“The Miranda’s site is an excellent place to ski”

-“One of the best sites I have ever been to”.

When asked what it was like to compete for the Stars and Stripes, there was a common theme of honor and pride. Reigning Women’s NCWSA Jump Record Holder Lauren Morgan described it as “Its awesome, there’s nothing like it.” Reigning Men’s US National Open Overall Champion Tyler Lorenz who was just on his second US team said “A real honor. And to come away with the title? Unforgettable. Something I didn’t think I would ever accomplish. I’m still in the disbelief stage.”

Congratulations to Team USA. A very well deserved world title won by a team of champions.