Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Contributed Photo Four Shawano Ski Sharks members participate in the Chain of Records attempt to break the record for largest strap doubles line last week. The pending record set during the event is 22 couples.
Contributed Pphoto A trios line of 12 sets, which including four Shawano Ski Sharks members, is pending a National Show Ski Association record after last week’s Chain of Records in Florida.
Four Shawano Ski Sharks members participated in the second-ever Chain of Records event April 19-23 at the Chain of Lakes in central Florida.
Eric Gran, Brad Keuschel, Nick Spalding and Kylie Wallace participated mainly in the doubles and trios events.
As one of five event organizers who began planning for the event last April, Gran helped identify 45 records the group would attempt to break. He said the group believes it broke 36 records, which still need to be verified by Guinness World Records, National Show Ski Association and United States Hydrofoil Association.
Others on the planning committee were Geno Yauchler, of Florida, Jeremy Armstrong and Shauna Tafanen, both of whom work on the Tommy Bartlett Ski Show in Wisconsin Dells, and Wendy Petzold, of Milwaukee.
Yauchler, Armstrong and Tafanen organized the inaugural Chain of Records in 2015, which set 24 records.
“We all have specialties, and we all looked at our specialties and said, ‘What do we think are some attainable records that we can do?’” Gran said.
Other factors included location, bodies of water they had access to, the skills of those participating and the amount of time necessary to attempt the records.
To find the 300-plus participants, the organizers sent an open invitation through the Chain of Records website, social media accounts and word of mouth. They then reviewed the applications to find the most qualified skiers, rejecting only a handful of the applicants, Gran said.
They chose the Chain of Lakes in Florida where the various connected waterways would be suitable for all the record-breaking attempts, which varied from 31 barefoot skiers in a front-step line to a line of 22 couples in a strap doubles line to most skiers going over a ramp (17).
“It’s kind of cool. Everyone is excited to be there,” Keuschel said.
The attempt to set the Guinness record for barefoot skiers line came up short of the mark set in Shawano last summer at 30. The Chain of Records tried it with 35 skiers, but did not keep them all upright for the 300 meters needed for the record. However, 31 skiers stayed upright for five seconds, which would set an NSSA record, if approved.
Gran attributed the failed attempt to poor water conditions.
“Records are made to be broken,” Shawano Ski Sharks director Dave Passehl said. “I thought it was kind of interesting we kind of maintained that record at least for now.”
The event brought together skiers from the U.S., Australia, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Wisconsin had the second-largest delegation of participants behind only Florida.
“I had a great time. We met a lot of new people,” Keuschel said.
The five days were stressful for Gran, who needed to help keep the extra skiers organized when he was not skiing.
“My voice is still shot from last weekend,” Gran said Thursday. “Very stressful five days executing it.”
The Ski Sharks are beginning their preparations for the 2017 season, with the docks going in at the new ski site as early as next week. The team’s first show will be June 7.