Jaimee Bull: Waterski World Champion, Masters Champion U21, World Record Holder 2x U21 talks about her Success Story

Namita Nayyar (WF Team)

2 years ago

Jaimee Bull is World Champion Masters Champion U21, World Record Holder 2x U21 World Champion and Junior World Champion Canadian National Waterski Team. She says”

Waterskiing is a technical, challenging sport that I extremely enjoy. I am never satisfied with reaching my goals because I know I can always improve and therefore I am always pushing myself to become better. I focus on perfecting my technique in order that it will allow me to reach my full potential”.

Jaimee Bull Current World Rankings:

1st U21 Women’s slalom
2nd Open Women’s slalom
U21 Women’s Slalom World Record Holder
U17 Women’s Slalom Canadian Record Holder
2x NCWSA National Champion
NCWSA Record holder (5.5 @ 10.75m)

2x U21 World Champion
U17 Junior World Champion
2017 Junior Masters Champion
Bronze Medalist at 2017 Open World Championships
Waterski Canada Junior Athlete of the Year

Jaimee Bull started waterskiing at the age of four years with her family on Trout Lake in North Bay, Ontario and quickly became passionate about the sport. When she was five years old, she decided that I wanted to learn how to drop a ski and get out of the water on one ski, she was successful and began competing in slalom at the age of six years and did quite well.

At her first Ontario Provincial Championship, she was placed first in her age division which sparked her drive to excel in that sport and compete at a higher level. Since then she has been the Canadian National Champion on six different occasions and is the current U17 and U21 National record holder. She is currently ranked 1st in the World in U21 Slalom and 4th on the IWWF Dynamic List for Open Women. In 2017, she won both the Junior World Waterski Championships in San Bernardo, Chile and the Junior Masters Championship in Pine Mountain, Georgia. She was also placed 4th at the Swiss Pro Slalom and made her first Pro podium, placing 3rd at the Canadian Open. The biggest highlight of her career came in the fall of 2017 when she was placed 3rd at the Open World Championships in Paris, France.

In the 2018 season, she tied the U21 Women’s Slalom Canadian National Record with a score of 4 @ 10.75 m. At the Swiss Pro Slalom, she was again placed 4th. Her Professional season continued with a 5th place finish at the Canadian Open, a 4th place finish at the Malibu Open and 5th at the California Pro-Am. She won the Hilltop Pro-Am tournament in Seattle Washington for the 2nd consecutive year. She was also placed 2nd in both Elite and Open Nationals behind World Champion Whitney McClintock. Her season closed with her debut in the American Collegiate skiing scene where she won the Division 1 National Slalom Title helping the University of Louisiana place 2nd in the team event in a close battle with the ULM.

Her 2019 season kicked off with a 4th place finish at the Swiss Pro Slalom followed by another 4th place at the Open Masters. At her last pro competition, the Lake 38 Pro-Am, she tied the score for third place but due to seeding she finished with another 4th place finish. The top three ranked Women in the World finished ahead of her in all three pro events. Her most recent accomplishment was placing first in the U21 World Waterski Championships. In the preliminary round, she ran 5 buoys @ 10.75m setting a new pending World Championship Record and a U21 National Record.

Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Jaimee Bull an exceptionally talented, World Champion, Masters Champion U21, World Record Holder 2x U21 World Champion and Junior World Champion Canadian National Waterski Team, here she talks about her fitness routine, her diet, and her success story.

Namita Nayyar:

The biggest highlight of your career came in winning the Open World Championships in Groveland, Florida on October 16th 2021. Tell us more about this exceptional achievement?

Jaimee Bull:

In 2017, I placed third at the Open World Championships as a 17 year old. From that day, I wanted to win an Open World Title. This season, the Open World Championships took place in Groveland, Florida at Jack Travers Ski School, my main training site away from home. So, at the beginning of this year, winning Worlds became a very serious goal of mine. I was fortunate to run 2 at 41 off in the finals of the World Championships, setting a World Championship Tournament Record and putting serious pressure on the remaining three competitors, all of whom are previous World Champions. Fortunately, none of the ladies were able to surpass my score and I was crowned the World Slalom Champion.

As mentioned, the event was held at Jack Travers Ski School in Groveland, Florida which is where I train, so it is considered my home site. My coaches and training partners were all standing with me when I won and being able to share the excitement and emotion of the win with them was absolutely amazing. Winning a World title anywhere is phenomenal but being able to win Worlds at my home training site where so many hours have been spent trying to become the best skier in the World was extra special. Sharing such a big moment with the Travers Family who are the owners of the site and waterski school, and who have taken me in like family, is a feeling I will never forget.

Full Interview is Continued on Next Page

This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or full anywhere without express permission.

Namita Nayyar:

You must have many memories and experiences as a water skier winning different competitions. Share some such experiences which are precious to you and embedded in your heart.

Jaimee Bull:

In 2016, I qualified for the U17 World Waterski Championship to be held in San Bernardo, Chile. I was extremely excited to qualify, as it had always been a goal of mine to compete in a Junior World Championships. Along with the excitement came the stress of being unaware if I would be able to attend the tournament due to the significant financial commitment needed to prepare for and attend the event. Since Chile is in the Southern Hemisphere, the World Championships were to be held in January of 2017. This meant that I would have to go to Florida to train before the tournament as my lake would be covered in 4 feet of ice. I set up a crowdfunding campaign for $10 000 and began looking for supporters. The reaction to the campaign was amazing.

I was receiving contributions from people I had never met, but who wanted to support my journey and provide me with the same opportunity as the other skiers. The platform was open in the spring for two months and I was able to raise the funds I needed to pay for my traveling and training expenses for Worlds. I spent the summer and fall training at my home in Canada with my family. Once school started, I was skiing in the morning before school when I could, and was playing high school basketball after school. In October, when it was becoming very difficult to ski at home, I went to Florida for what was supposed to be two weeks to try to maintain my skiing as I knew I would soon not be skiing at home. Unfortunately, October is hurricane season in Florida, and I came home after 5 days to avoid Hurricane Matthew. When I got home, I tried to ski as often as I could, just to stay on the water.

It became too cold to ski in our slalom course, so I resorted to free skiing, so I would not have to continually drop in the water. The air was often just above freezing in the morning when I would ski. At the end of October, we had our first big snow fall of the season, but I knew I needed to keep skiing to stay in shape for Worlds. Luckily, after the snowfall we had another round of fall weather and I was able to ski a couple times a week into November, when we could no longer keep the boat in the water. From November 8th until December 10th, when I returned to Florida, I did not get any on the water training at all. I slowly became more and more stressed about whether I would be prepared for Worlds, as I saw photos and videos of all my competitors training while I was attending school and playing basketball. I began to have negative thoughts of “what if I go to Worlds and I ski poorly… then all those people who paid for me to go will have wasted their money”.

I knew that these thoughts were not going to help me. I pushed them back and convinced myself that I would ski fine and the people who funded my way weren’t expecting me to win. They just wanted me to be able to go to Worlds and have the chance to compete. I also tried to convince myself that even if I didn’t ski well, the training that I got to do before Worlds was very beneficial as I developed as an athlete. As much as I tried to push the negative thoughts out of my head, they were still at the back of my mind and began resurfacing when I returned to Florida and got back on the water. I tried to get rid of the thoughts again and I didn’t tell anyone that I was feeling pressure due to the campaign. When we arrived in Chile my ski bag did not show up, but it came the next day so I only missed one day of training.

Training went well in Chile and I was confident skiing at that site. The morning of the preliminary round arrived and I felt relatively calm, but that feeling did not last long. I was on the dock getting ready and I knew the score I needed to get into finals. As I got into the water my nerves hit me like a ton of bricks. All I could think about was how much money people had paid for me to get there. I was no longer skiing for myself; I was also skiing for the people who had donated to my fundraising campaign. I ran my opening pass at 28 off and dropped in the water at the other end of the lake. Typically, when I ski in tournaments my first pass tends to calm my nerves and gets me into a rhythm. Not at this tournament.

As I was sitting in the water while they shortened the rope, my nerves increasingly got worse. I became more and more anxious that I might waste my contributors’ money. The same thing happened after 32 off. I knew I needed 3 buoys at 35 off to secure a spot in the finals. I was panicking, my main goal was to not fall before buoy three instead of being confident and skiing a pass that I ski every day. I was very cautious and tentative at 35 and was running a little late at four but I still should have been able to complete the pass with ease. Due to my nerves, I ended up falling around 5 balls. I was not very happy to say the least. I had made finals, so I knew I needed to mentally move forward. My parents met me at the shore as I swam in and I voiced my concerns to them for the first time. My Dad thought that I may have felt the pressure of the campaign but he didn’t want to bring it up in case I wasn’t thinking about the donors. Both my parents told me that no matter what, the people who had supported me would not feel their donations were wasted if I didn’t win, as over the year, I had very beneficial training time in Florida that I wouldn’t have gotten without the campaign.

The support I received from the waterski community that night was amazing. My friends from all over the World, as well as some of the Pro skiers I train with, sent me messages telling me to relax, that the hard part was done now I just had to go out and ski. I sent out an email to my campaign contributors to tell them that I had made finals and I received an overwhelmingly positive response. They were all thrilled that I had made finals and were excited that I had another chance to ski. Not one of them cared that I hadn’t skied my best in prelims. Even though I knew that, it was a huge relief to hear it from them. Their excitement and supportive words washed away all nervousness I had. I had one day between semis and finals where I was able to internalize their unconditional support. I had the opportunity to talk to the Canadian Sport psychologist, Jaret Llewelyn who was the team coach as well as my parents to attempt to overcome my mental barrier.

The voice that had been nagging at the back of my head began to disappear and the feeling that I was skiing for myself returned. The day of finals I was one of the first skiers off the dock, which I think was a blessing. When I was standing on the dock, I felt normal and I had a completely different mindset than a few days before. Since I went off the dock early, I knew I needed to set a big score which allowed me to just go out and ski. I felt confident and I was focused on my skiing, not my fundraising campaign. I ended up running 4 buoys at 11.25 m (38 off). I was very happy with that score and the fact that I was able to overcome such a major mental barrier. My score ended bringing me to the top of the podium. My campaign contributors were extremely happy for me, but it was just icing on the cake for them. They were just proud that they helped me get there. I am very thankful for all their support as they were the reason that I was able to attend worlds. They taught me to believe in myself. I know now that if someone chooses to contribute to your skiing, they are contributing to support you and help you reach your goals and gain access to amazing opportunities.

They want what is best for you and they do not care whether you come first or last as long as they have helped you to have the same chance as others and to be able to grow as a person and athlete.

Namita Nayyar:

You have been the Canadian National Champion on six different occasions and are the current U17 and U21 National record holder. What traits do you consider as a water skier led to this meteoritic rise in the sport of waterskiing?

Jaimee Bull:

Waterskiing is an exhilarating sport and the manner in which scoring occurs drives you to always want to do better. This mindset caused me to want to excel in the sport. I think my competitive drive has allowed me to excel in the sport, as I know that I can always improve and I am never satisfied with my scores. My competitive nature rises from having an older brother, who I idolised and wanted to be able to keep up with, in everything he was doing. Had my brother not pushed me in everything we did when we were little, I do not think I would be the competitor that I am today. Coachability and willingness to learn are also very important traits.

The desire to learn and improve makes the process of training exciting and enjoyable. I also believe that one of the reasons I have been successful in skiing is because I played as many sports as I could when I was growing up. I think the variety of sports allowed me to develop great body awareness and coordination. I also think that since I played many sports and only was able to ski for half the year, I was able to avoid burnout. The limited training time has forced me to have a higher purpose every time I step on the water, so I have been able to focus on my training and put all my energy into maximizing each session.

Namita Nayyar:

You are a U21 Women’s Slalom World Record holder. Elaborate on this exceptional milestone in your career with a score of 1 at 41 off from the Hilltop Pro-Am on 16th August 2020.

Jaimee Bull:

On August 16th, 2020, I ran 1@41’ off at Hilltop Lake in Washington, setting a U21 World Slalom Record. In doing this, I also became the 10th female in the World to ever run 39.5’ off in tournament. I had been trying to run 39.5’ off in a tournament for three years so to finally put everything together and run “39” was incredibly exciting. Once I ran “39” and became the 10th female to run the pass, it took the pressure off of running the pass and therefore, made it less of a mind game when I made it to that pass again. This season I have been able to run “39” multiple times and I am currently leading the Pro Tour Leader Board with 5 event wins and three 2nd place finishes in the 8 events this season. Without getting through “39” at Hilltop last season, I think my season would have looked much different, as I would not have come into the season with the mental barrier of running 39.5’ off being broken. This season, I have been able to push my U21 World Record to 2 at 41’ off.

Namita Nayyar:

When at home, your father drives the boat while your mother videotapes your skiing. Then your father and you analyze your skiing. You are at a serious disadvantage with your competitors because most of them live and train in Florida on a year-round basis. To stay competitive, you require frequent trips to Florida to receive world-class coaching, accurate boat driving, and have proper training conditions. Training with high-level coaches is being very costly. Apart from the excellent family support system that you have, what you consider has been the catalyst to drive you from within, your competitive urge to move against all these odds to come out victorious and achieve a World Record?

Jaimee Bull:

My family has been an amazing support system but as I improved in this sport, opportunities became available to me that helped catalyze my success. I pursued sponsorships to help finance my travels to Florida as well as training and competitions costs. I was also lucky to have some companies reach out to me for sponsorships. Nella Food Equipment, MacGregors Meat and Seafood, MD Marine Insurance and Leslie Slattery Inc, were instrumental in allowing me to move against the odds I faced and helped me develop as a skier.

Once I began training in Florida, I was very lucky to find incredible coaching. Jon and Jack Travers from Jack Travers Ski School have helped build my base and have helped develop my skiing. I joined the HO Syndicate brand and was fortunate to gain many mentors through my teammates. I was quite young when I was added to the team so I found myself surrounded by World Champions, and professional skiers such as Jon Travers, Will Asher and Marcus Brown. These men have so much experience and I was able to learn so much about how to maximise training and how to compete through their mentorship. Without their wisdom and support I would not have been able to achieve the U21 World Record or the World Champion title that I hold today.

Namita Nayyar:

Life is too short to conform to social standards, so make sure to do what makes you happy and take pride in yourself.

Jaimee Bull Social Media Presence

Official Website: https://www.jaimeebull.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jaimee_bull/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jaimeebullski/

This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or full anywhere without express permission.