Waterski contestants from 18 countries have now secured their places in this coming weekend’s Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup Stop. Both extensive TV publicity this week and a promising weather forecast are likely to attract a large audience to this very scenic location on the banks of the River Erne. Further live on-site Radio and TV broadcasts will continue over the coming days and the major Daily Newspapers have printed some dramatic photos of the sport.

With so much at stake for the International Water Ski Federation contestants, plus the prospect of taking a slice of this season’s US$780,000 cash prize, water conditions are a critical factor. Following five years of research and product development, this weekend a totally new Northern Ireland invention – called Wave Barrier – will be unveiled. This demonstration of 250 meters of the revolutionary product assembled in 25 meter sections by a purpose built launching craft, shows it is possible to stage water based events where backwash from vertical walls and piers made it impossible in the past. By positioning the sections in front of all wave reflecting banks and preventing waves from passing craft from entering the area, this World Cup site has been transformed into a calm lagoon. The nearby 12th Century Enniskillen Castle has rarely seen such calm waters.

Two athletes from the USA have a strong grip on titles in the World Cup points system at this time. Husband and wife, Freddy Krueger in Jump and Karen Truelove in Slalom, will try to take both trophies back home across the Atlantic on Sunday night. Krueger took the Masters title in the USA and also the World Cup Dubna Stop Jump title this year. Truelove is the defending Enniskillen Stop Ladies Slalom champion. In Ladies Jump, Denmark’s June Fladborg, last week’s winner in Russia, has the lead slot ahead of Clementine Lucine (FRA). In Men’s Slalom, last year’s World Cup title winner, Jodi Fisher (GBR), has a significant point lead over both Jamie Beauchesne (USA) and New Zealander Aaron Larkin. In Shortboard / Tricks, there are two intriguing battles to take place in Enniskillen. Aliaksei Zharnosek (Belarus) is currently just 77 points ahead of the World Record holder, Nicolas leForestier. Zharnosek’s consistency in Qatar, China and Russia have earned him that position. This could be the biggest career win to date for the Belarus athlete if all goes well for him in Northern Ireland. In Women’s Shortboard, Clementine Lucine (FRA) is on a roll at the moment. She set a pending World Record last week and won two of the last three World Cup Stops in Shortboard. However, Mandy Nightingale (USA), the current World Champion, is just 21 points behind and this promises to be a real cliff-hanger in the making.

The results and full details of this weekend’s World Cup Stop in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland can be followed on http://www.iwsf.com/ and http://www.iwsfworldcup.com/