Canadian Olympic gold medal skier Kathy Kreiner-Phillips has traded in her alpine skis for a set that gets a lot more wet, and she’s got a couple of close companions along with her for the ride.Earlier this month, Kreiner-Phillips – a 65-year-old native of Timmins, Ont., who has called North Vancouver home for many years – took part in the 2022 IWWF World Over-35 Water-ski Championships in France. She was joined there by her husband, Dave Phillips, and good friend and training partner Johnny Hayward, both of whom were also competing against some of the best masters water-skiers in the world. The trio trains on the waters of Indian Arm near Deep Cove, the only three skiers on the team that Canada sent to France who do most of their practising on salt water rather than on a freshwater lake.The transition from mountain slopes to behind a boat was a natural one for Kreiner-Phillips, who said she did a lot of both types of skiing as a kid growing up near Ontario cottage country. Alpine skiing dominated her life when she was racing for Olympic gold, but now her favourite place to be is behind a boat. “I just love that feeling of water skiing and whipping across the wake, that after-water-skiing feeling of being tired. There’s nothing like it,” she said. “It’s such an adrenaline sport, very addictive. It’s just really a lot of fun, and we’re really passionate about it…. I don’t want to be a masters [alpine] ski racer now – I’ve been there, done that – but the water-skiing really is just a good outlet for me.”Kreiner-Phillips, who won gold in giant slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, said she sometimes still has the urge to ski like she’s on snow when she’s behind a boat, a tendency which has resulted in a few faceplants.
Source: Olympic gold medal skier Kathy Kreiner-Phillips now water-skis – Victoria Times Colonist