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Richard Downing Pope Jr. (December 12, 1930 – November 8, 2007), better known as Dick Pope Jr., was a World Champion water skier and an important business leader in Central Florida. [2] Pope was an important innovator in the sport of water skiing, including the development of barefoot skiing in 1947. [2]
Barefoot skiing is water skiing behind a motorboat without the use of water skis, commonly referred to as "barefooting". Barefooting requires the skier to travel at higher speeds (30–45 mph/48–72 km/h) than conventional water skiing (20–35 miles per hour/32–56 km/h).
Don Cameron Thomson (born October 14, 1941) is an American water skier and a pioneer in the sport of barefoot skiing.He expanded early barefoot endurance records from 5 to over 30 minutes and introduced new maneuvers to the sport such as doubles barefooting, front to back and back to front turns, and participated in the development of the tumble turn with Terry Vance. [1]
Mike Seipel (born Mike Seipel) is a retired American competitive barefoot water skier. He was considered to be one of the greatest barefoot water skiers in the world. He was a member of the United States Barefoot Team and was a two-time overall world champion in 1984-85 [1] and 1986–87. Seipel didn't win any medals at his first Worlds, but he ...
While racing cars, involvement in the early days of barefoot water skiing, and even black-tie parties [1] he earned the nickname of "Barefoot Stew" and a reputation for vigorously independent thinking [5] He was the biological father of biologist George M. Church at MacDill Air Force Base in 1954. [6]
[citation needed] He also helped form the World Water Ski Federation, a rival organization to the International Water Ski Union. His son, Dick Pope Jr., was one of the first persons to successfully barefoot water ski, [9] and is a member of the Water Ski Hall of Fame. They are the only father–son pair in the Water Ski Hall of Fame.
Keith is a two-time World Barefoot Champion, winning Overall titles in 2006 and 2008. Keith learned to barefoot water ski on Lake Umbagog in New Hampshire at the age of nine with instruction from Mike Seipel, a two-time World Barefoot Champion. [2] He entered his first barefoot tournament at age ten in the Eastern Region. [3]
On October 18, 2013, the Banana George Blair family and the American Water Ski Educational Foundation (AWSEF) established the "George Blair Ambassador Scholarship" - an annual college scholarship, awarded to a young water skier who exhibits excellence on the water, in the classroom, and in serving as an ambassador for the sport.