Tony Klarich

Someone asked me why anyone would be interested in reading a book about me. After getting over some hurt feelings, and thinking hard about it for a couple of days, I came up with an answer that satisfied them---and me too! My “glory days” in water skiing corresponded with the explosion of watersports in the 1980s and 1990s, including the creation and rise of hot dogging, kneeboarding, wakeboarding, and hydrofoiling. I had a front row seat to the exciting development of each new sport as a pioneer and top competitor. I’ve already written hundreds of articles, and have a collection of thousands of photos and videos, so I was in a perfect position to document these sports! This book is autobiographical, especially Part 1: Hot Dogging. I sparingly used key childhood events off the water to help explain why I ended up being a skier who was always motivated to seek out the next challenge, do things never done in water skiing, and share my success to the world through performances. You will find that my personal story is also the story of these sports, how they developed, and how they relate to each other in the bigger picture (my life in kneeboarding, wakeboarding, and hydrofoiling is already in the works). The longer format of an e-book allowed me to dig deeper into the history than ever before. We are far enough away from the rise of these sports to get some perspective, but not so far to have lost touch with the innovative personalities directly responsible for creating these new ways to ride. The recent media developments have also allowed me to present Adventures in Water Skiing in a whole new way. In additions to the scores of photos, there are also dozens of links to even more related materials including magazine articles, timely websites, and classic videos. On a final note, it has been very important to me that this body of work can stand as a respected historical record for water skiing. I have worked extremely hard to get the facts straight, and tell each part of the story with as much research and insight as possible. I hope that future generations who read these words can find a source of credibility, insight, and of course, entertainment.