Club, team brave conditions to compete

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

The water on Lake Otterbein will be frozen soon.

And there won't be tournaments until the spring.

But there's still a club, one with more than 110 members. And there is still a team, one with more than 20 members.

Like the other 11 teams in the Great Lakes Conference, Purdue's Water Ski team stops skiing in October, the last month team members can brave the frigid water of nearby Lake Otterbein before the edges of the small lake ices over.

But even though the boat is going into storage, team and club members are still active, dedicated year-round to a sport they love.

The team, which has five national All Stars, has gone to national championships five out of the past seven years and, except for this year, has always competed at regionals.

Club president Brian Zimmer, a senior in the School of Technology, said one of the reasons club and team members stay in touch and host events in the winter is because of the intense bonding done in the spring and summer.

The club camps out on the shores at all their tournaments held between August and early October.

"There's bonfires and DJs; it's awesome," Zimmer said.

One of the lakes they compete at has an enormous water slide.

"At night we do a naked water slide; there were about 30 people out there last time," he said with a laugh. "Camping is really fun; there's just a sea of tents right next to the lake. We party the night before and compete the next morning."

Zimmer grew up on Lake Wabana in Minnesota and started skiing when he was little. He followed his older brother to Purdue to water ski and since then has dedicated himself to improving his score and the team through recruiting and training.

Bridgette Murphy, a freshman in the School of Liberal Arts, is one of those recruits.

Murphy grew up on Loon Lake in Minnesota, where her dad got her up at 7:30 a.m. to practice as early as May.

"We would just get numb," she said.

Murphy, a three-event skier, is used to the intense competition season and long off-season full of training and working to stay in shape.

She lifts weights several times a week, which is a big change because she's been practicing almost every day and competing in weekend tournaments since school started.

"It takes up a lot of your time," she said.

The camaraderie on Purdue's team was a big reason Murphy, who was recruited by several schools, decided to ski for Purdue.

"Everyone is warm and friendly," she said. "At some southern schools it's a varsity sport and they have curfews and coaches; the feeling's very different. Here, there are so many people that want to be on the A-team that there's a lot of competition, but it's laid-back."

Cris Kodiak, a freshman in the in the Schools of Engineering, has been water skiing since he could walk.

Kodiak's older siblings were leaders on Purdue's past teams so he said he's always looked forward to competing for the University. Teammates call him "Superfan," which Kodiak earned for his knowledge of water ski trivia and for always wearing team shirts.

"My drawers are filled with T-shirts from past tournaments and I wear them so often so that kids who don't compete or might not know that we have a team can see that we do."

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Features editor:
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