The ISU Waterski Club has jumped out of the water for the winter after fall competition. However, it continues to search for anyone interested in competitive skiing or just wanting to have fun on the water.

“We’re trying to get people that are interested in water skiing, whether they have skied in the past or want to learn how to water ski,” said club sponsor representative Roger Deboer, senior in mechanical engineering. “[We want to] give them a location that they can do it while they’re here at college.”

The GSB-funded group competes in the fall and spring all over the country, even though it is a part of the Midwest Collegiate Water Ski Association. The club also hosts two home tournaments, one for the fall and the other for the spring.

“We go to three-event tournaments [and] compete against schools from all over,” said vice president Anthony Campbell, senior in management. “For example, we’ll see schools from down south like Louisiana-Monroe.”

The club competed well enough in previous competitions to compete in a regional meet held in Decatur, Ill. The team placed seventh out of 16 teams, but came up short in order to place for nationals.

“You can’t qualify individually in the collegiate season; it’s all team,” said recruitment chairman Shane Burke, freshman in pre-business. “So it’s hard to get [to nationals].”

Now that it is too cold to be out on the lake, members of the ISU Waterski Club take training and preparation into their own hands.

“We all just do individual [workouts],” Campbell said. “For example, I’ll run and lift.”

Campbell also said he’s part of the wrestling club and stays in shape there and that water skiing is a hard sport to train for as a team. A lot of the workouts happen individually.

Burke said he’s excited for what the future will hold for the team with a young but experienced incoming class.

“We have a bunch of new kids coming in who are supposed to be phenomenal,” Burke said.

The club hosts another home tournament in the spring around the Veishea celebration and hopes to even host its conference in Ames as well.

The water ski club is for anyone who wants a break from campus for a while or to test their competitive skills against the best in the nation.

“We’re always looking for new people to get involved,” Campbell said. “We’re always at ClubFest and we’ve had our boat out in front of the library. So if you’re interested, shoot us an email.”