Waterskiing: Kiwi siblings head to Chile for world competition

Karl Donaldson. Photo / Supplied

The best university waterskiers in the world are about to converge on Chile and among them will be Ashburton's Karl and Lana Donaldson.

The brother and sister duo head to Santiago on January 4.

For Karl, 21, it will be his second outing at the university worlds, but for Lana, 20, the trip is a first.

But both are looking forward to the trip, which follows a busy few weeks of training and getting into top form at Lake Hood.

And the pair reckon they're nearly back to where they left off last year, although Lana's preparation was dogged by a knee injury.

The competition in Chile is open only to university students from around the world. Lana is studying towards a BComm at Canterbury University, and Karl is about to enter his fifth year of study towards a BComm and BSc, but he's not heading back to Canterbury - where he's studied up until now - this year.

The Chilean tournament runs for five days and the New Zealand contingent have a couple of days to familiarise themselves with their surroundings before their first competitive ski.

The Donaldsons are expecting the toughest opposition to come from the American skiers, but they know the whole field is going to be tough.

New Zealand is sending a team of six - four women and two men.