Will Asher is one of just five water skiers in the history of the sport to win a professional competition aged 40 or over. He topped the men’s slalom podium at the Malibu Open in Alabama at the weekend while Joel Poland won the men’s tricks.

It was another hugely successful competition for the Brits with Freddie Winter finishing just behind Will in second and Joel taking third place in the men’s jump. The same three skiers had also made the podium a week earlier at the MasterCraft Pro in Florida.

The standout performance came from Will. He has been on the podium at every Pro competition he’s contested this year. This is his third victory of the season but the first since his 40th birthday in August.

He joins an elite band of five water skiers to have recorded a professional victory aged 40 or over, among them fellow Brit, the late Andy Mapple, who is often hailed as the greatest men’s slalom skier of all time.

Will Asher

Will, who was World Champion in 2005 and 2009, had his first Malibu Open title 18 years ago in 2004 and this was his seventh.

“It feels magical, it feels amazing,” he said. “I couldn’t do it without the people around me – Jon Travers and the people at Travers. I am just happy to be able to keep doing it.”

Will’s victory was hard fought. He faced a four-way run off after Will, Freddie, Stephen Neveu of Canada and Thomas Degasperi of Italy all posted 3@10.25m in the final. Will came through with an impressive 5 full buoys on 10.25m. Freddie, who had been looking for back-to-back wins following his top spot at the MasterCraft Pro, had to settle for second with 4 buoys. Stephen Neveu was third with 3.

 Men's slalom podium

Our Overall World Champion and world record holder, Joel Poland, earned the third professional win of his career and his second in the tricks discipline, with a best score over two rounds of 11,720 points.

He finished in third place behind Canada’s Ryan Dodd and Freddy Krueger of the USA in the men’s jump with 65.8m in the final. Joel also made the slalom final and was not far short of breaking his own overall world record set at the Open World Championships a year ago.

Joel Poland

The results mean Will Asher has extended his lead at the top of the 2022 Waterski Pro Tour men’s slalom standings with just two competitions to come. Freddie Winter is lying in second spot.

The Malibu Open was the last jump event of the 2022 Waterski Pro Tour and Joel Poland ended the season in third place behind Ryan Dodd in first and Freddy Krueger in second.

The next WPT slalom competition is the Travers Grand Prix in Florida on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 October.  The Waterski Broadcasting Company will be showing it live.

Full results of the Malibu Open can be found here.

Photos: John Waldron