Deniliquin’s super skiing sisters Erica and Laura Hayes continue to make thier mark in the waterskiing world, and will compete in the under-17 world championships in Calgary, Canada from July 29 to August 4.
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Erica, 15, and Laura, 13, have been progressing in their chosen sport over a number of years, and their recent performances show that they’re not slowing down.
Competitive tournament waterskiing consists of three events: trick, slalom and jump.
The girls both dominate in trick, but have each demonstrated their capability across the board with their world rankings.
Rankings rely on competing well at different tournament sites, calculated on an average across each.
In the under-17 girls world rankings currently, Erica is fourth overall in all three events. Laura is 43rd.
In their pet event, trick, Erica is Australia’s best junior girl and is ranked second in the world.
Laura is seventh in the world in the same age group for trick.
Erica has one other top 10 ranking, placing ninth in the world for slalom.
This has seen them selected for the Australian national team for the under-17 world championships.
The girls’ father Glenn Hayes said only six Australians are selected for the team, and two reserves.
So he said to be chosen is the peak of the skiing world.
“It can be difficult to make the cut, but this year we were pretty fortunate,” Glenn said.
“They could have qualified as independents, but some people did miss the qualifications based on the cut-offs.
“Due to the ranking this year, we were lucky we didn’t have to worry about it too much, and their focus has been on the 2024 World Championships.”
Erica has had experience as part of Australia’s junior world team, competing at the last event in Chile in January 2023.
But this will be her final year eligible for the under-17s.
This will be the first worlds appearance for Laura, who has been dominating at the under-14s level.
“I’m excited for my first time,” Laura said.
The training routine is consistent for the girls, although they will soon leave for America where more training will be added.
“We do four days skiing, three days off,” Glenn said.
“Erica will be going to Florida to train at the end of June.
“Most of the team for Australia are already going to be over there.“
Erica said she looks forward to competing on the world stage.
“I enjoy the travel; it’s exciting, and I appreciate the effort from everyone.”
The siblings admitted they have a bit of a friendly rivalry when they train, which helps to improve their drive.
“I like competing against Laura and we enjoy testing ourselves against each other,” Erica said.
“We push each other, and at this level it is so specialised.
“We’re doing things that aren’t really being done, so we’re learning from each other.
“For me, there’s still a lot more that I want to achieve.”
Laura is still up and coming at these big competitions and said she feels the emotion of competing at the highest level.
“I get super nervous, but I trust I’ve done the training and will do my best.”
Leading up to thier world selections, the sisters have demonstrated their prowess at the two main ski events on the Australian calendar - Moomba and Nationals.
At Nationals, held in Mulwala last month, Laura won the under-14 trick and was third in under-14s overall.
Erica was first in open women’s trick and third overall in open women’s.
At the Moomba Masters Water Ski event in Melbourne, Erica came second in junior girls trick while Laura came fourth in juniors and seventh in seniors.
The girls got into skiing through social connections made by their parents.
“We started skiing socially and our mum skied a lot,” Erica said.
“It was through connections we did more and more competitive skiing.”
The pair continue to represent Deniliquin well and say they will always remember where they started.
That’s why they remain involved with the Deni Boat Club Ski School, where they helped with instruction over summer.