Four Moree Water Ski Club members have qualified for this weekend's national championships, following success at the Malibu Boats NSW/ACT State Titles in Moree on the weekend.
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Moree's Greg Croft is one of the four set to compete at the 2019 Nautilus Marine Insurance Australian Water Ski Championships, to be held at Moree Water Park from Thursday, April 18 until Monday, April 22.
Croft placed third in the over 55s men's slalom event, which will see him compete at nationals for the first time.
"He's pretty stoked," Croft's son and Moree Water Ski Club events and tournament coordinator Angus Croft said.
Goondiwindi skier Grace Griffiths (part of the Moree club) will also compete at nationals for the first time after placing in the under 21s women's slalom, trick and jump events. Her father Brendan also took home trophies in the over 45s men's slalom and trick categories, qualifying for nationals.
Inverell's Will Mann is the final member of the Moree Water Ski Club who will take on nationals after he won the over 21s men's slalom event.
Meanwhile, Moree skiers Lucy and Max Christie will also compete at nationals, however as part of the Queensland team.
About 80 of the best skiers from NSW and the ACT competed in the state titles at Moree Water Park on Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14.
Croft said it was a top two days of skiing, with scores up overall.
"There were some PBs [personal bests] in the jump - a lot of people seem to be enjoying the site for the jump," he said.
"There were some good scores produced in the open men's slalom too.
"It's promising for the club. If people are getting good scores here, it means they'll want to come back.
"Everyone has been impressed with the site."
The state titles served as a prelude to the main nationals event, which will see about 190 of the best skiers in Australia compete.
Skiers from all over the country have already begun arriving in Moree, with familiarisations happening at Moree Water Park over the next few days.
"They get the opportunity to ski on the site to become familiar with the site before nationals," Moree Water Ski Club president James von Drehnen said.
There will be a welcome presentation for the skiers at Moree Services Club before all the action kicks off on Thursday.
The nationals are expected to bring hundreds of people to Moree and Tournament Water Ski Australia chairman Stafford Scott said it's great to have competitors from every state represented.
"We are delighted to have competitors from every state represented at these championships, along with a large contingent of officials, family and friends who will travel from across the country to attend this premier event," he said.
Mr Scott said Moree Water Park is well on its way to becoming one of the best sites in Australia, which will make for some top skiing over the next week.
"This newly-formed world-class facility should produce some outstanding results from the large field of competitors, with the potential for new Australian records being set," he said.
Moree mayor Katrina Humphries said Moree is delighted to be able to host the state and national titles, which will bring so many visitors to town who are set to provide a significant, and much-needed boost to the local economy during the drought.
"The best thing people can do to help small rural communities in these times are visit and spend," she said.
"Our Water Park is something that we knew was right for our community and given the option of evaporation ponds or a water park, there really was no dilemma, and here we are the centre of attention for all to come and see."
Amongst the national championships, Moree Water Ski Club is also hosting a Pro Night Ski event under lights from 6pm to 10pm on Easter Sunday.
Australia's best water skiers will go head-to-head under the lights in the shoot-out event, which promises to be a cracking night of entertainment for the whole family.
"This is a way to hopefully get more people in town interested in water skiing," Mr von Drehnen said.
Fireworks will cap off the night, which will also include a barbecue and full bar. Entry is $5 or $20 for a family.
The Moree community is also encouraged to head out to the Water Park to watch some of the country's most skilled and talented water skiers compete in the national events across the five days of competition.
Entry is free, with a canteen running and facilities available.