Hundreds of water ski athletes are preparing to compete in the 83rd Goode Water Ski Nationals at Ski West Village in Arvin.
The national tournament, returning to Arvin for the second consecutive year, will feature more than 500 athletes competing in slalom, tricks, and jump skiing events.
"The Goode Nationals is a three-event water ski tournament. It consists of slalom skiing, tricks skiing, and jump skiing," said Matt Bishop, membership and events marketing representative for USA Water Ski.
The nationals returned to Ski West Village last year after approximately 15 years. According to Bishop, the location provides ideal conditions for the competition.
"A lot of good reviews from last year. The weather was absolutely beautiful, which is a big key, especially in water ski tournaments; you want to try to have consistent weather patterns," Bishop said.
Roger Welling, member and past president of Ski West Village, hopes to build on last year's success by attracting more spectators, particularly local families.
"We're hoping this year we can build upon the success of last year and we get more local people to come out. It's really important that we grow the sport, so we need kids to come with their parents and get excited about water skiing and the opportunities that it can afford them," Welling said.
Arvin officials welcome the tournament's economic impact as athletes and spectators from across the nation visit local businesses.
"It continues to put Arvin on the map, that Arvin knows and everybody knows that Arvin is open for business and that we have folks that are coming and they're going to come and do business in our city," said Olivia Calderon, mayor of Arvin.
The tournament is scheduled to run from August 5 through August 9 at Ski West Village in Arvin.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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