There was a strong Wairarapa connection in the New Zealand squad which has just returned from the 2012 world barefoot waterski championships at the Barefoot Ski Ranch in Waco, Texas, with their best-ever results at that level.
Greytown's Ross Linton was team manager and his daughter, Sarah, was part of
the hugely successful Kiwi contingent whose junior team took away the bronze medal after coming third in their division.
The open team was fourth and the senior team eighth.
Individually, there were some outstanding performances by the New Zealanders with 16-year-old Georgia Groen from Otaki leading the way. She finished with five gold, one silver and two bronze medals and broke two world records in the process.
Her cousin, Ben Groen, set New Zealand records in his jump and slalom events while 14-year-old Brooke Fitch from Palmerston North, skiing in her first major tournament, was the bronze medallist in the junior girls jump event.
