Joel Poland has won gold at the 2025 IWWF World Open Waterski Championships in Recetto, Italy. There was also a bronze for Will Asher and a fourth place finish for the GB Team.

Joel triumphed in the Men’s Jump event, leaping a massive 72.1 metres, a new European record. He beat the reigning champion and jump world record holder, Ryan Dodd of Canada, who was the last skier off the dock in the final and whose best distance was exactly two metres short of Joel’s.

It’s his first world jump title and was some consolation for his failure to reclaim the overall world title that he won in 2021, after he fell in the elimination round of the tricks event and missed out on the final. 

Joel tops the podium with Ryan Dodd (l) and Dorien Llewellyn (r). Photo: BWSW

Will Asher won bronze in the Men’s Slalom with 5 buoys on the 10.25m line. The two-time World Champion now has eight Open World Championships medals (and another two at Under 21 level) over a career spanning more than two decades.

It was the highest-scoring Men’s Slalom final ever seen at a World Championships. The gold and silver had to be determined by a run-off between Nate Smith (USA) and Charlie Ross (Canada) after they both scored 1 at 9.75m. The American prevailed to take gold.

Will Asher takes bronze behind Nate Smith & Charlie Ross. Photo: BWSW

Rob Hazelwood nearly joined cousin Will on the podium, finishing joint fourth in the slalom. He also competed in jump and tricks and finished an impressive fourth overall.

The medals capped a strong performance from the GB Team, which came fourth in a field of 32 competing nations. The Team Captain, Glenn Campbell, himself a silver medallist at the 2005 World Championships, said: “I feel really lucky. I’ve got such depth in the team and the team spirit was fantastic at these Championships.We did ourselves proud here in Italy. It’s been an honour to represent Great Britain and support these athletes that I know and love.”

The full GB Squad at the World Championships was Joel Poland, Sanchia Outram, Rob Hazelwood, Amber Butterfield, Tom Parkin, Jack Critchley, Will Asher, Freddie Winter, Arron Davies, Ben Turp, Charlie Emmett and Emily Newsome.

You can find the full results here.

Look out for more and some great photos in the autumn edition of the BWSW magazine.