Kuranui College year 12 pupil Sarah Linton won't accept second best at the New Zealand barefoot water skiing championships at Lake Inspiration, Otaki this coming weekend. Linton, 16, was runner-up for the junior girls title in 2008 and is absolutely determined to go one better on this occasion. And considering she wasthe top-placed Kiwi in eighth at the junior worlds also held at Lake Inspiration earlier in the year Linton has good reason to feel confident about her chances of doing exactly that. "I want to win, nothing else will be good enough," Linton said yesterday as she looked forward to her clash with fellow New Zealand representatives Shannon O'Donnell and Georgia Groen, who were 11th and 15th respectively at the worlds. Linton tallied 1338.51pts there compared with O'Donnell's 1112.08 and Groen's 914.15. Barefoot water skiing is performed over three disciplines, slalom, tricks and jump, and while Linton is obviously very proficient at all three, current form suggests the slalom will produce her best result this coming weekend. There the emphasis is on speed and technique while dexterity and flair is important in tricks and timing in jump. Linton says training runs on the Ruamahanga River, near Kahutara, have gone well with an intensive session over Easter weekend having her in peak shape, both physically and mentally, for her forthcoming assignment. "Everything has gone well, fingers crossed it will stay that way," she said.
