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Who are some of these guys from those early
years? Rusty Carter was a professional water skier who at one time ran the
McGinnis Ski School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was the first one in
Indiana to jump 150’ and medaled at nationals in slalom and jump. Rusty and
brother Robin, along with their parents, were among the founders of the
Fairland Ski Team. Jerry Hickman certainly continues to be active in the
Indiana water ski scene with his great involvement with the INT and the
Mirage Ski School in Fort Wayne. We are still seeing his name in jump
events, setting an Indiana record for Men’s IV in 1991, with 111’, and
medaling at nationals in 1998 in Men’s V. Bobby Young, from La Porte, was
killed in an auto crash in his early 20’s, leaving a wife and a baby. Jim
Boonstra was from Bass Lake in Knox, Indiana, and ran a novice lake boat and
ski club. Kenny Anderson was from Lake Manatau in Rochester, IN, and was
primarily a jumper in show skiing. John Goebel, from Lake Wawasee, medaled
in Boys at nationals but later broke his neck at a water ski show on Lake
Wawasee. He is a chiropractor in Fort Wayne, as is his father. It was at
that same Camelot tournament that Jerry Hickman was taken to the hospital
making it two for the same night. Another Wawa skier was Bud Roby of
Anderson who had jumped well in Boys and then won the Mark Wiggs at a young
age. John Huntzinger first won the trophy in 1981, when he was only 19
years old. John also won in ‘87, ‘92, and ‘97, giving him a record 4 titles
and counting. Nobody else has won it more than twice. John started as a
Dewart skier, learning a lot of his jumping from Jerry Hickman. He
continues to do well consistently in all three events, competing at state,
regionals, and nationals year after year. He, along with another Mark Wiggs
recipient, Todd Smith, founded the Purdue University Water Ski Team.
Another winner was Steve Plummer, an early member of Water Ski Incorporated,
who continues to participate in the state tournament in multiple events.
Steve’s parents had a summer home on Webster Lake, and Steve moved to North
Webster where we all see him at Bart’s when we go for ski supplies. Todd
Smith, winner in 1983, and 1988, was a Camelot skier and set the record in
1977, for Boys’ II at 100’, a record that still stands. He also set a
record in 1986, for Men’s I at 155’, later to be broken in 1995, and again
in 1996, by recipient Tom Truesdale. The last jumper we will mention in
this article is Mike Schmitt. Mike won the Wiggs in 1984, and set an
Indiana record of 140’ for Men’s II, which remained unbroken until Tom
Truesdale jumped 169’ in 1998. Mike jumps at Timberlake, along with the
rest of the famous Schmitt skiers.
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