2009 CHICAGO AIR & WATER SHOW AUGUST 14TH-16TH.

Team Twangled headlines Water Show in Chicago.

Show times at North Avenue Beach August 15-16

10-10:45am and 4-4:30pm.

 

LIQUID X PRO FREESTYLE BIG AIR COMPETITION SIZZLES IN FRONT OF 3.1 MILLION SPECTATORS

The 2008 Air & Water Show featured 15 freestyle riders from around the Midwest and Canada.  Tricked out carbon fiber and Kevlar jet skis with Stroker engines trim systems and a wide variety of paint jobs strutted their stuff over the three day monster sized festival.  The vendor tents covered several miles of lakefront.  18 hours of aerial and water acts entertained a record 3.1 million people.  This was my 15th consecutive Show.  The weather was near perfect all three days.  Clear skies allowed maximum air space for the jets and stunt planes.  A special fist bump goes out to my right hand helper Jordan.  His 8 years of experience as a human proved invaluable over an arduous 3 days. 

Every major network converged on the spectacle.  I made appearances on Good Morning America Fox-TV Chicago, WGN-TV and ABC-TV.  NBC-TV's Jen Knoedl spent the day with myself and other Show staff & performers, putting together a future segment covering the show from the inside.  She did very well on her first solo ride on a performance jet ski.  Online viewing of the upcoming segment will be linked when it is released.  Also in the works for the future are some cooking segments.  More on than later. 

Water conditions were excellent.  Friday Lake Michigan served up 3-4 foot rolling waves with no whitecaps.  Saturday saw a morning of 6-12 inch soft chop with a slightly diminishing wind in the afternoon.  Sunday ruled as the water was flat and fast.  Both the Munson ski Team and the Master Craft wake board pros were able to fit in fine shows.  With the big boats dropping double up wakes we had the best of both worlds.

Special thanks to Casa Nostra Bakery and Gonnella Baking Co. for their very generous support, helping make my participation and the event possible.  Dave Gonnella had a fine time with his wife & sons Sunday. 

Friend and pro rider Mack Shwab and wife Brooke were unable to attend this year.  This is because after the birth of birth of their now 2 month old daughter, Brooke was diagnosed with a degenerative kidney ailment and needed a transplant.  Turns out her loving husband was a perfect match, again, and he eagerly donated the needed organ.  By mere coincidence he noticed several new insurance policies on himself with payments stapled to them:)  Rumor has it that now he is getting a sweet ski out of this deal.  That, and his laundry done for a year I think was the other part.  Way to go Mack!  Congrats to the very lucky couple.

The Big Air competition featured Defending Champion Gary Burtka successfully holding off a talented field.  Barrington native Joe Eckert finished in 2nd place with some great monkey jumps and well executed barrel rolls combined with some great height & distance.  Another surprise was Jason Widdes finishing a strong third place.  His barrel rolls were some of the longest completed over the two days.  Team Twangled member Greg Brock hit his first back flip in front of 1 million people.  This got him a Coolest Move trophy.  More details on riders and placements can be had at www.twangled.com.  As for myself, I did take a couple of solid body shots caused by hard landings.  One was a bell ringer.  On one of my jumps I over shot the wake I wanted to land on, and landed on "soft water" or "white water". I disappeared with my ski under the waves in an unplanned submarine.  I did managed to land a few nice inverts and several nose stabs.  I did manage to turn the fountain loose on the swimmers, much to the delight of thousands.  The double up wakes were awesome.  I did peel off some of the highest jumps in my career.  My ski ran fast and steady all weekend.  The boat captains worked well with the riders all weekend and did a very fine job.   Captains Dave Becco, Bryan Hansen, James & Connie Conlon,  Mathew & Kerry Simmons and Dave Robinson.  For the first time in a decade the water show expanded its performance area south to Oak Street.                        

I did have the opportunity to sign many autographs and toss Frisbees and Tootsie Rolls to the kids.  That part is always a highlight.  Another cool part of the weekend was the many Air Force, County & city police, Coast Guard, Blue Angel & Golden Knight team members and Raptor pilots who hung out in out pit area for the festival.  Turns out we were a haven for them to escape and relax, enjoy small talk, eat & hydrate while some slept!  Many were pulling serious hours. 

IN THE BEGINNING

I began my career in the water by purchasing my first jet ski, a Kawasaki 440, in 1984.  There were only 2  Jet ski's registered in Chicago that year.  In 1988 I started to attend Jet Ski tour competitions  as a spectator.  Freestyle captured my attention, my imagination and lit a fire that still burns inside of me.  I began entering competitions regionally in the Midwest on the IJSBA Jet Ski Tour.  I began touring nationally on that circuit and in consecutive years went from 19th to 2nd overall in 5 years.  In 1998 Gary Burtka and myself nailed down the National Championship, and went into the World Finals ranked #1 and #2 respectively.  Gary was 20 at the time, I was 40.  Age is a state of mind.  In my first Pro competition, I managed to finish in 3rd place in a very tough field in the first night time competition at the Milwaukee Summerfest in 1999.  Liquid X Freestyle was formed in 2000.  On the LXF tour, I finished 5th overall and 3rd over all in Liquid Doubles in the pro competitions.  2008 marked my 15th year performing and competing at the Chicago Air & Water Show held at North Avenue Beach.  Teaming up with Dave Larson of Gem promotions, the sport of pro freestyle jet skiing has enjoyed a prosperous life.  LXF was the first freestyle tour to pay all of its pro riders, institute a scoring system, and require all riders to wear helmets and body armor to protect riders.  LXF has held competitions in front of the largest audiences anywhere on the planet, at any time.  LXF also instituted trophies for "Coolest Move" and "Best Wipe Out".  Both awards are highly coveted by the riders on the tour.

2009 Chicago Air & Water Show draws 2.1 million despite rain on second day.  The water show provides its share of thrills and drama.  ABCTV Chicago affiliate WLS-TV feature story:


http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6968295




The quick actions of the team mates of Kyle Burtka, the Coast Guard, Fire Department Paramedics, and Park District Life Guards prevents an bad wipeout from getting worse.  Not only was Kyle Burtka released form the hospital within several hours, but he was firing up his sunk ski the following day.



2009 Chicago Air & Water Show Picture Slide Show - 2.1 Million on hand Aug.14th-16th