Day 8 - The Journey Home

Well the awesome week has come to a close. I finished the last post kinda quickly, so let me recap the events of the closing ceremonies.

Each team got dressed and headed over to the big glass building at the end of the lake. On the beach in front of this building they were constructing a stage that looked like it was ready for a KISS concert. No it wasn't KISS, it was just the closing ceremonies of the World University Championships.

Team USA was truly dressed to kill. Barb Surdej helped out a ton arranging show-stopping American Flag dresses for our girls, and matching American Flag Ties for all of the guys with their Black Suits. We looked pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Well here, I'll let you decide.

First the teams were honored for their placements. Team USA did take the gold medal, for the 3rd time in 3 World University Championships. Team total was 8,572.13 points. Czech Republic took silver with a very talented team and a score of 7,871.26 and France snagged the Bronze with 6,506.66 points.

Then the individual overall winners were honored. Team USA took 3 of those 6 medals. Storm and Alex were both the silver medalists in overall. Regina took the overall gold, by achieving the highest scores in all three events, setting the WUC world record in trick, and tying the WUC World record in overall.

After that they honored all of the volunteers that help run the event. Look at all of these people dedicated to making the tournament a success. This wasn't all of them either.

Then the closing ceremony pomp and cirumstance began. Throughout the evening there was: feather hat dancers, Tianjin Polytechnic University Marching Band, Tianjin Polytechnic Pom Squad, a Chinese woman singing Italian opera (and really well), Women dancing with stacks of glassware on their heads, another dance squad, and some of the teams did performances as well.

They orchestrated truly a magnificent closing event to match the top-notch event from all week. After the end of the closing ceremonies, we went back to the dance hall to end the night.

Next morning, woke up, had a coach bus waiting for us, checked in to our plane and got on with no trouble - again not paying for our ski bags. I can't recommend Continental airlines enough - they were a joy to work with. In Newark, Regina and Tomlin got on direct flights back home. The rest of us went to Chicago. Half stayed in a hotel there and half started the drive home. The trip was officially over, and with that, there were 15 big smiles on the faces of each traveller.

All in all - Team USA walked away with the team gold, and 10 individual medals (5 gold, and 5 silver). I couldn't be much prouder of this team. And it was truly a team effort, from the skiers, to the alternate, to the parents on the trip, to the family and friends back home. A special thanks needs to go out to official team photographer Russ Selsor. All of this wonderful shots come from his camera. He took his job seriously and made the team look good. Everyone had a hand in helping this team go out and prove they were the best in the world.

Thanks again to all who checked this site now and again. It meant a lot to the team, knowing that they had fans back home interested and invested in their success half a world away. I will speak for Jeff when I say it was really a pleasure managing and coaching this team. And we both look forward to a chance to help the USA repeat in 2010.

And it can't be said enough....What place did Team USA get?

Ahhh.....gotcha. :-) Team USA - World Champions. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Day 7 - Finals and Closing Ceremony

Day 7 would bring the biggest day of the tournament as far as skiing goes for Team USA. There would be five event finals - Men's slalom, Women's trick, Men's trick, Women's jump, and Men's jump. That also means for our three event finalist Storm - he is going to be skiing three times today.

First up right at 8:30am was Men's slalom. Storm was first out for the US, and 6th off the dock. Came out at 14.25m (28) and ran it about as effortlessly as I have seen him take a pass. 13 m(32) was next and it looked a lot like the previous. 6 up, 6 down. Next was the trick 12m (35) pass that tripped him up in the prelims. He wanted to best his score of 3.5 from the prelims and take a shot at that podium. He got himself around 4, and then had time around 5, but when he got there, he got stood up. Not much angle for 6 - but Storm threw his whole body into it anyways, and when he got the wakes, gravity won and he did a cartwheel out of his ski. But a sweet score of 5 at 12m, which was enough for 4th place.

2nd to the last on the water - was Cale. Cale had the 2nd seed in the finals, but that was not what he wanted. Anything but a title here would have been less than what he had hoped for and been training for. He went out and set the bar with very clean 14.25m and 13m passes. Next was 12m - if he runs that, he is on the podium. Well, he ran it indeed. Now comes the 11.25m pass, the one that trips up so many really talented skiers. It didn't trip up Cale. He sliced and diced right through it. Coming back in at 10.75m (39.5off). The record is 4 at this pass. Cale got around one, took a mighty jerk at 2, and got himself around 3 with a lot of slack, and then got back to the wakes for an official score of 3 at 10.75. After the last skier got 5 at 11.25 - that only meant one thing - Cale is the World University Slalom Champion!

No time for rest, the women trickers are next. Our ladies were the top two seeds for the event.

Alex went first. It was pretty windy for the event and she needed to have unbelievable concentration to not let the wind throw her out of position. It didn't. Alex stood up both passes. She improved on her 2nd place prelim finish from earlier in the day - with a score of 7360! This would have been a new WUC World Record - if Regina hadn't broken the record in the prelims with a 7550. But for the finals - No one could top Alex. She stood alone on top of the podium as WUC World Trick Champion!


Regina who set the highest score of the weekend in the prelims, fell just a tiny bit short in the finals - scoring 6680 - just 110 points away from the podium. But I have a feeling she may see that American flag get raised for her once more.

Our Men trickers were next. If you remember - Storm just barely got himself in the finals with a trip up in the prelims. Well he took advantage of the opportunity and scored an 8230. This was enough for once again 4th place. He's hoping not to make this a trend.

Next was the #2 seed - Tomlin. He stood up that always important first pass, and only missed one trick in the second pass to put together a 8,800 points. This was enough for the silver medal! Another American flag being raised at the medal ceremony. Congratulations Tomlin!


Women's Jump was next. Team USA had the top two seeds, with Regina #2 and Alex #1. the wind was again giving it her all with a stiff tailwind. Regina went out first and popped off a nice opener around 44 meters (145 ft). Then on her second jump - she put it all together with a late solid cut that netted her a jump of 49 meters (161 ft.)!!! This jump was one tenth of a meter away from the WUC World Record.


Next up was Alex knowing what the score was to beat. She needed 42.8 m to get on the podium and 43.4m was in 2nd. On Alex's first jump she went over 44m and put herself into second. With the tailwind and everything else - Alex improved it to 45.9m (151 ft.) on her final jump and got herself the silver. So for the first time in the tournament, we had two American Flags raised at the medal ceremony. Congratulations to both of our lady jumpers - truly remarkable.
Men' Jump was the last event of the day. Ryan was the second one off the dock, meaning that he should finish in 11th if he holds true to seeding. Ryan's furthest jump ever was 51.9m (170ft). He said that he was gonna go for broke and go as far as he can - what has he got to lose? Well he truly did leave it all on the water. First jump was a nice opener that threw him on his heels in the tailwind. Next was a solid score around 49m. On jump three, the cut was way later, but Ryan stayed down through the wakes and made it to the jump right at the right time, and then exploded for a jump of 53.6m (176ft.). Thats right folks, he put out a personal best, in a huge tailwind, at the World Championships! This got Ryan 6th place - even beating out a few guys that went off a 6 foot ramp. Awesome job Ryan.

Storm was the next one. He was jumping 5.5ft ramp, so he had to go earlier than his seed. So he had to set the mark for others to try and match. He went out and kicked a pretty 59.9m (197ft) jump and left that score out there. Others launched, only one could catch him. Rodrigo from Chile put out a 60.0m jump beating Storm by one tenth of a meter. Storm finally got that podium position that he deserved all tournament - with the silver medal. Congrats Storm!


Overall standings - the USA was impressive as well with Regina taking 1st and Alex in 2nd. Storm took 2nd on the men's side.

And the team results.
TEAM USA BRINGS HOME THE GOLD!!!!

All results can be found at www.ncwsa.com/wuc

We are getting on our bus to Beijing right now, and then heading to airport. More updates when we all land. Thanks again for following TEAM USA, and feel free to leave any comments.

Day 6 - Jump Prelims & Women's Slalom Final

So the third day of competition was going to bring the prelims of the third event - Jump, as well as the finals of the women's slalom.

Going into this event, Team USA had secured 9 spots in the finals. 4 in slalom (Cale, Storm, Regina, and Alex) and 5 in tricks (Cale, Storm, Tomlin, Alex, and Regina). We knew it was important to try and get at least 4 of those finals spots in jump. That way not only does it give our team a chance to improve our score, it also denies another skier a chance to improve their score.

Conditions were not ideal for jump. Nothing that anyone can do, but it was a howling cross/tailwind going left to right over the jump. Lots of issues with this. It makes the skier narrow on their counter, and it doesn't give the jumper much tip pressure when in the air, allowing for some crashes. You needed to be dialed in to jump well in this wind.

Our first high flying athlete was Ryan Selsor. Ryan did not have the advantage of knowing how far he needed to go for the finals. He simply had to go out there and put out the best score that he could, and then watch the rest of the field try to match him. 1st jump - Ryan got thrown back on his heels a bit in the air, but then recovered and landed about 41 meters (134 feet). He brought it down on his second jump, and really worked hard to stay wide and not be dictacted by the wind. He brought a lot of speed into the base and popped off a beauty - 49.6 meters (163 feet)!! Mind you, Ryan's best jump of his life is 51.9 m (170 feet) and that was in perfect conditions. Ryan was stoked and so were we on the shore. He came in for his third jump and put on another pretty one, just a bit shorter than jump 2. So he returned to the dock with a 49.6 for the books. We then had to watch and wait. If that score beat 6 more jumpers after him, he would snag a spot in the finals. Well I will save you the anticipation, his score did not beat 6 more after him.......it beat 7!!! Ryan finished the prelims in 11th place - and a ticket punched to the finals on Saturday! Now every member of Team USA has made the finals - in one event or another. Amazing.

Next up was Ryan's cousin Storm. He is one of the higher seeded competitors in this event. He had the advantage of knowing exactly what he needed to advance to the finals guranteed. At the time, he knew he needed to go 50.2 meters to secure a spot no matter what. Jump #1 - Storm scored a 0 - a pass. We were all hoping he wouldn't save it for his third jump and give us all a heart attack (he has a knack of doing that). On the second one, he did take it over, and it was a beauty - 53.8 meters (177 feet)! And to be honest, it was an easier cut for him, he has more in the tank for the finals. Jump #3 - things didn't look right again, but he was already in the finals. Storm finished the prelims with the #3 seed, and only one meter off the lead.

Next up was Cale. Cale has been focusing very hard on his slalom this summer, taking his first stint on the pro tour for slalom. This doesn't leave a lot of time for jump. But at the end of this summer, Cale really started focusing on jump again so that he would be ready for this tournament. Jump #1 - was a good opener of about 41 meters. Jump #2 was a bit farther. Cale brought it down on the third one and popped off a 47.6m (156 ft) jump. This put him right on the bubble, depending on what the rest of the skiers produced. Cale remained on the bubble until the last two skiers and then it did unforunately pop. He finished in 14th, just two little spots away from the finals. All in all, still terrific though, as he has the slalom AND trick finals tomorrow.

Our ladies hit the water next, and man can they jump. First was Regina and she did 3/4 cuts on each of her jumps. She wanted to make sure she had a feel for the wind and the site. She came away with a leap of 44.4 m (146 feet). That put her in 2nd place after the prelims.

Second to whom you may ask..... (do you see a trend these ladies are starting here?). Thats right, teammate Alex Lauretano hit the jump with a fury and was able to best Regina by 0.3 m (1 foot) with a jump of 44.7m (147 feet). So our ladies are ready for the jump finals - sitting in 1st and 2nd. Not only do they have the advantage of knowing what scores they will need in the finals, but they also will be on the starting dock together able to help each other as they go out one by one. Outstanding skiing.

But before Alex barely had time to dry off - she needed to rip off the jump suit and helmet, and strap on her jacket and slalom ski, because it was time of the Ladies slalom finals.

The wind died down for slalom and the conditions were pretty nice. Alex is the #6 seed, and Regina is the top seed - going last. Alex had a score of 5 at 13m (32off) in the prelims. She knew she could do more in finals, and knew it would take more in the finals. Alex opened at 14.25m (28off) and rounded 6 with ease. She could have rounded 12 of them if they were out there. Next up was the 13m (32 off) loop. No one had finished off the 13m pass yet. Well Alex was the first one, taking it down. She came back in at 12m (35off). Rounded 1, got a slice around 2, and skied inside of three. That put her in first with 5 more skiers to go.

The next skiers were not messing around. Claire from France got 2.5 at 12meters, Maryia from Belarus took3 at 12 meters. Then Karen from Canada went out and smoked the 12 m pass coming back in at 11.25 m (38off). Her personal best is 2.5 at 11.25 and she got 2.

Only one skier left. The bar had been set with 2 at 11.25m (38off). Regina Jaquess came in at 14.25 meters (28off) and ran 6 of 6. Swinging back around, she also took all 6 at 13 m (32). Next was the tough 12m (35off) pass. Well 16.95 seconds after she started it, she went through the exit gates with 6 in her hand. She was guranteed 2nd place, but she didn't want silver, she wanted gold. Coming back into the course with a rope shorter than the distance from the boat to the ball, Regina came around 1, pulled as hard as she could around 2, and then threw her fist in the air and she came around 3, knowing that she was World University Slalom CHAMPION!!

The medal ceremony was awesome. Huge podium, flags raised for the country of the top 3. Heavy really nice medals were handed out, along with a beautiful bouquet of flowers handed to them by the dignitaries of the event. Congratulations Regina!

Tomorrow is a huge day for our skiers. 5 finals - Men's Slalom first, then Women's Trick, then Men's Trick, then Women's Jump, and finally the always entertaining Men's Jump. Good luck to all of our skiers.

By the way - this is the site we were left with next to the medal stand - not bad eh?

Day 5 - Trick Prelims and Coach Jeff's Birthday

With day 1 of skiing in the books, it was time to move on to the slippery ski, tricks.

TEAM USA has the capability of producing top level scores in all three events. Tricks is no exception. First were the men. We had two men in series 2 - Cale and Ryan, and then two more in Series 1 - Storm and Tomlin.

First out was Ryan. Ryan stood up most of his first pass. A little shaky, but hey who isn't. Then for the second pass, all trickers worst nightmare happened, as he completed his second toe turn, the heal strap on his rope slipped off and Ryan was standing there, above the water in skiing position, watching the rope travel down the lake behind the boat he is supposed to be skiing behind. While this was very unfortunate, it did not spell doomsday for Team USA.

Next on the water was Cale. Cale of course is known for his slalom skiing, but his tricks are quite the spectacle as well. Cale stood up his both of his passes with amazing grace. Standing next to the chinese watchers, he received a plethora of "Oooohhhss" and "Aaahhhhsss" with each of his flips on the second pass. He stood it up with a terrific score of 5000 points. We were hoping that this would be good enough to get him to the final. Not only did it get him to the finals, he is the 6th seed! Way to go Cale.

Our top two trickers were up next, Storm and Tomlin. Storm went out and may have made the smartest decision of the day by having Regina be his pinner. His first pass was a little shaky with a couple bobbles here and there that may have warranted a release from your average pinner. But Regina held on to that rope like it meant something, and Storm finished his first pass unscathed with just a few trick missing due to running out of time. Coming in to his hand pass - Storm's higher point pass, he was ready to go and shake off that first one. Well on his third trick - a ski over, he got himself tangled in the rope and went down early. This did not bode well for the team. But someone or something is looking out for him, because due to some other falls as well, Storm snagged the last spot into the finals with a score of 3820. This is tremendously good news, because we all know Storm is capable of so much more.

So after watching Storm go down early, Tomlin knew that he had to put a solid pass together, now knowing whether Storm would make the finals or not. Lots of pressure added to a world championships atmosphere. Well Tomlin came through as we all hoped he would. His toe pass was very clean. Coming back on his hand pass, he started with his signature "Lots of air" flips. Definitely a crowd favorite. Tomlin made it almost all the way through his second pass as well, and put up a huge 8550 to put himself in 2nd.

So Team USA moves 3 men into the trick finals.

On the ladies side, we knew we had two of the top trickers at the tournament wearing the red white and blue.

First was Alex Lauretano. Alex stood up her toe pass very well. A couple close calls, but when performing the type of toe 5s, toe wake b2bs and toe line tricks this athletes are, there are going to be close calls. Alex came in for her hand pass and stood it up beautifully. Wowing everyone with her tight flips and line tricks. Alex came to the dock with a whooping 6,870 points. That score got her second place!

Second place to whom you may ask? Well next on the water was Regina Jaquess. Regina is the current WUC World Trick Record Holder with a score of 7,260 . Regina attacked her toe pass and ran it cleanly. Coming back in for her hand pass, she knew if she stood it up she would have #1 seed. Stand it up she did, with a myriad of flips. After the scores came in, she stood in first with a score of 7,550 points. Indeed that is a pending new WUC Women's Tricks World Record!

So after trick, the team standings look like this:

1. USA - 5,584.13

2. Czech Republic - 5,158.49

3. France - 4,215.26

Skiing was done for Team USA in the early afternoon so we took a team trip to down Tianjin to see what we could find. There was a big shopping area and center square. Everyone was looking for authentic chinese souveniers and such, but this was not the area to find it. Most of us are pretty amazed that with all of these people everywhere the streets and such are suprisingly very clean. The air on the other hand, as Borat would say, "not as much".

We came back home for dinner and to suprise Coach Jeff on his birthday. Jerri, Melinda, and Cyndi did an awesome job coordinating this whole thing. They took a taxi to Tianjin on Wednesday and got a beautiful Dragon cake made for Jeff. We bought a t-shirt from the event and had the whole team sign it. We also got the organizing committee to get us a banner from the event so that we could give it to him. Everyone was hiding in my room, with the cake candles lit, and then I had him walk in the room to a suprise party with us and the Czech team. It was wonderful.

We topped off the evening with some bowling of course, and this time some swimming. All sorts of games were played in the water until none of us could swim anymore. Then to the sack.

Tomorrow is a big day - Jump prelims for everyone. And then - the slalom finals.

Thanks for checking us out! Leave a comment if you wish and I will pass the message along to the team.

Day 4 - Opening Ceremonies & Slalom Prelims

With this trip, there has been a lot of travel, a lot of organizing, a lot of emails and communication. But what it all comes down to is the skiing, that is why we are here. So for day one of the competition, Team USA was going to take it to the dock ready to defend their title as World University Team Champions - from 2004.

Before the skiing started, they had the opening ceremonies of the event. It was a very impressive showing. Hundreds of kids in red and yellow outfits lined the walkway to the main pavilion with bouquets of flowers in their hands. As the teams would walk down to the pavilion, the kids would stand and cheer for you the whole way. There were then many Chinese drummers in red and white garb banging away at their drums and chanting to the beat. Beyond them there were more children with more drums and streamers dancing to the incoming athletes and officials. This was like nothing we had ever seen before.

Then the distinguished guests arrived and were seated. After that was the procession of the teams and their flags. The Team USA flag was carried by our very own Regina. There were some speeches and a welcome from officers of FISU, and from the Mayor of Tianjin as well. Then it was topped off with fireworks and the games had officially begun.



Alright, enough with the pomp and circumstance, let's hit the water. Today is the slalom preliminaries. There are 34 male competitors and 24 female competitors. The top 12 in each event, make it to the finals. The parents and female skiers were down on the shorelines draped in the American flag ready to cheer on the team.

First on the dock was Tomlin Wilson for the USA. And well....Tomlin is really good at Trick. So let's focus on the next one. :-)

Storm Selsor took the to the water next with a nice advantage. He had 10 skiers behind him, so he knew that if he left the water in the lead, he was guranteed a spot in the finals. The lead when he took to the water was 2 at 12m (35off). Storm decided to play it safe - and started at 16 meters (22 off). He ran that with no trouble. Then he came back in at 14.25 meters (28 off) and again smoothly zigzaged right through. Next was the very important 13 meters (32 off). Storm again looked like the veteran international skier that he is and cleaned it. Coming back in at 12 meters, he took a hellacious hit at one ball, regained his composure and then took an even worse hit at 2 ball. After getting a bit out of position, the got back on edge and was able to get himself to three, make a nice turn and get over to four. The ski skidded out at 4 - so he took away a score of 3.5 at 12meters (35off). He came to the shore knowing that he was in the finals and finished in 7th place in the prelims.

Next was Storm's cousin Ryan Selsor. Ryan started at 14.25 meters (28 off). This pass had tripped up a lot of skiers so far, so just running his opener was going to put Ryan in the top 20. And run it he did. This is Ryan's first ever time skiing for the United States in an International Team Competition overseas, so running that first pass got a lot of jitters out for him. Coming back in at 13 meters - 32 off, in the wind, Ryan got a decent 1, but started to get behind at 2, and was able to rip around 3, and then just inside of 4. His score ended up being 3 at 13 meters (32 off). He was just one buoy away from making the finals. But Ryan finished the event #15 in the world - not a bad pick-up line I would say. :-) Don't forget, Ryan still has two more events left as well.

Next was the tournament's #2 seed - USA's Cale Burdick. He was the last skier off the dock. The skier before him was JB Faisy of France, and he put out a score of 1 at 10.75 meters (39.5 off). At the pro tournaments, Cale starts at 13 meters - 32 off. But again, this was all about the team, so Cale took to the water at 14.25 meters - 28 off. He ran it like it was a 100 foot skifly rope. Then he came back in at 13 meters - 32 off, and cleanly took that as well. Next was 12 meters - 35 off and Mr. Burdick took that one down as well. With that pass he was into the finals for Friday. Cale came back in at 38off, and had some great rhythm through the course, ran 5 and just inside of 6 at the end. This put Cale in a tie for 2nd after the prelims.

So for the men - Cale and Storm make the finals. Nice job all of the men's slalom crew.
Now it was the boy's time to don the flags and the ladies chance to swerve.
Alex took to the water first, and knew that she was going to have to get 1.5 at 13meters - 32off to be guranteed a spot in the finals. Alex started at 14.25 meters (28 off) and took that right down. Coming back in at 13 meters (32 off), she needed to get a piece of 2 to move on. Well how about getting all of 5, and just inside of 6, for a score of 5 at 13 meters. This was not her best, but got her into the finals, which is exactly what TEAM USA needed. This left her in 6th after the prelims.

The last lady on the running order was the current WUC women's world slalom record holder - Regina Jaquess. The light was getting very dim when she hit the water and the day was nearly over. Well Regina did not disappoint. She came out like teammate Alex at 14.25 meters - (28off). She ran it smoothly. Then came back at 13 meters, and took all six out the exit gates with her. There were skiers with 0.5, 1, and 2 skiers with 2 at 12 meters, so she wanted to get at least to 3 ball. Well she decided to get to 6 ball and round it, being the only female of the tournament to run 12 meters 35 off!!! Regina came back in at 11.25 meters - 38 off and achieved a score of 2.5. Regina swims to shore knowing she will be the top seed in the ladies slalom finals on Friday.


Here is a little rundown on how team scores are tabulated. The top score from either the prelims or finals, is established as the 1000 point score of the event. Everyone else in the tournament is measured up against that same score. So for example, if the top trick score was 10000 points, that person would earn 1000 points for their team. If second place was 9000 points, that skier would earn 900 points for their team, because they were 90% of the top score. Then the top three scores for each event are scored for the team.
Please note that the 1000 point score can change in the finals.


So after Day 1 - Team USA found themselves in 1st place. But again remember, this can drastically change, not only from the other events, but from slalom as well, based on the finals. It is going to be a close race. Here is what we have right now:
1. USA - 2695.94
2. France - 2578.14
3. Czech Republic - 2547.30

After skiing, there was dinner, and some more bowling and games, and then early to bed. Tomorrow everyone on the team will trick, and most all will happen before 1:00pm.

Thanks again for checking out TEAM USAs progress, and if you want to leave a comment, I will make sure the team gets it.

GO USA!