Mastering the course

This summer Wells Marks didn’t want to go to camp. He just wanted to water ski.

The Crestline Elementary fourth grader started slalom skiing at age 5 and skiing tournaments at 7. At age 9 he placed second overall in the nation in his age group at the 2014 U.S. National Water Ski Championships.

He and his dad, Caldwell, skied about four days a week this summer, taking their boat to Lake Martin and a private lake in Vandiver. 

Prior to the national competition this summer, Wells placed first in trick, slalom and overall at the Alabama State Championship. At the Southern Regional Water Ski Championships, he placed second in slalom and fifth overall, bringing him to third place overall. But after practicing twice a day leading up to nationals, he came home with a third place medal in slalom, second in trick and second overall.

“The thing about the sport is you can always get better at it, kind of like golf,” Caldwell Wells said. “It was a lot of fun to watch him work hard doing something he loves to do.”

Once he turns 10 later this year, Wells will move up from Boys I division to Boys II with other 10-13 year olds at a faster boat speed.

He has already qualified to go back to nationals next year, but his dad said he is not going to push it too hard because there is a lot of competition. Instead he plans to ease into skiing at 34.2 mph, almost four mph faster than what he skied at this summer.