A WEEK of final training will determine whether water skiing siblings Kye and Makayla Cornall from Cundletown make the final selection for the Australian team to contest the world barefoot championships to be held in Winconsin next month.
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Makayla, 14 and Kye, 19, fly out next Tuesday. They’ll head to Fergus Falls in Minnesota for some initial training before heading to the championship venue in Wisconsin. Here there’ll be a final four day preparation where the Cornalls will find out if they’re in the Australian team. Both are happy to deal with the pressure although they say they rate themselves as ‘50/50’ about making the cut.
If they do miss out they’ll still be eligible to compete at the titles as independents.
“It’s just that any points we get won’t go to the overall Australian total,’’ Makayla explained.
Makayla will contest the junior (under 17s) division, with Kye in the open men. Kye was in the juniors at the last world titles held in Victoria two years ago. He finished third but appreciates the standard will be tougher this time around.
“It’s going to be a learning curve for both of us,’’ he said.
They were selected following the Australian championships held at Liverpool in April where Makayla finished second in the junior girls and Kye third in the open men. Since then they’ve been training up to four times a week no matter what the weather conditions.
“It hasn’t been too bad, we’ve had a pretty good winter,’’ Makayla said.
Makayla gets some tuition from Greg Adams while Kye largely looks after his own affairs although he’s always happy to take in advice. The Cornalls also thank Wayne Green and Shane Ludeke for their help in their preparation.
Kye believes his best chance will be in the tricks section with Makayla rating the jumps as her main hope.
Ten countries are expected to contest the championships. Kye tips the New Zealanders to be the toughest opposition in the men with the Americans tipped to be the front runners in the juniors.
Kye will return home as soon as the competition is finished for work although Mayayla will stay in the US with her mum and head to Los Angeles. Their dad, Warren, will also make the trip to watch them in competition.
The next world championships will be held in Canada and both hope to gain selection. Makayla will still be eligible for juniors. Both believe the experience they’ll gain next month will be invaluable.
An Australian team will also compete in Oceania championships in New Zealand in January and both hope to gain selection.
“We’ll find out when we’re away if we’ve made it,’’ Kye said.