2003 Sprint Ultimate Airawave Articles and Results

Olympic medalists Alisa Camplin, Joe Pack and Eric Bergoust will be among the aerialists competing Saturday at the Sprint Ultimate Airwave at Utah Olympic Park. The event combines a mix of individual competition and exhibition show jumping. Camplin, the Australian Olympic and world champion, and Canadian Steve Omischl, No. 2 in last season's World Cup standings, are the first international athletes to take part in the annual event. Top prize for men and women is $5,000. Besides Pack, silver medalist at last year's Winter Olympics, and 1998 Olympic champion Bergoust, the U.S. team will also feature Ryan St. Onge, Jeret Peterson, Kate Reed and Christina Craddock. Park City resident Brian Currutt and Jerry Grossi are also expected to come out of retirement to compete. The show will also include exhibition jumping by skateboarders, BMX riders, as well as skydivers and pool-jumping dogs. The event starts at 4 p.m., with the gates opening at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $11 for general admission, with pool deck seating at $14. Tickets are available through Smith's Tix outlets, by phone at 1-800-888-TIXX or online at www.smithstix.com. To get to the event, park at the old Kmart lot on Highway 224, then take free shuttles to the Park.

Sprint Ultimate Airwave: Flying high
The Salt Lake Tribune
August 24, 2003

PARK CITY -- Olympic champion Alisa Camplin flew all the way from Australia to take the women's crown at the Sprint Ultimate Airwave competition Saturday at Utah Olympic Park. Eric Bergoust only had to drive over from his Park City home, but he, too, had undergone a long journey to top the men's podium. Rebounding from what he called an "embarrassing season" that had resulted in demotion to the U.S. "B" team -- and from the disappointment of finishing out of the medals a year earlier at the Winter Olympics -- Bergoust unleashed a near-perfect triple flip with five twists on his second jump to top a field of eight rivals for the men's aerials title and a $5,000 cash prize.

"That's the best jump I've ever done in my life," said Bergoust, after climbing out of the landing pool, which was surrounded by a sellout crowd of 1,500 people.

And Bergoust, who turns 34 on Wednesday, should know. During his 15-year career on the U.S. team, the 1998 Olympic gold medalist figures he has performed 15,000 jumps on water. The five judges concurred, awarding Bergoust with a string of marks ranging from 9.3 to 9.7, out of a possible 10, the only jump in the competition that drew marks higher than 8.9. With the highest and lowest marks tossed out, Bergoust earned 28.6 of a possible 30 for the jump, which vaulted him into the lead with 54.4 points.

First-round leader Jerry Grossi, who retired last November, scored 23.5 points on the final jump of the event, a triple flip with four twists, which relegated him to third place behind Bergoust and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson of Boise, who was tied for second with Bergoust after the first jump. Since his retirement, Grossi has been selling plastics in Chicago. He hadn't performed the jumps he used in Saturday's competition all year, and hadn't jumped at all since a June show. But he didn't view his lack of pool time as a handicap.

"It's like riding a bike," he said. "I've gone off that thing thousands and thousands of times."

Despite his third-place finish -- and his $1,650 prize -- Grossi has no intention of making a comeback. "I was tired of training, I was tired of being in the cold," he said. "I was just losing my love for it."

He also has a new passion -- surfing -- and said he intends to surf his way around the world some day.

Peterson, 21, also attempted a triple flip with five twists on his final jump, but his score of 25.3 wasn't enough to match Bergoust, leaving Peterson with the second-place purse of $2,800.

"I'm really happy for [Bergoust]," said Peterson. "It kind of sets the bar for all of us that much higher."

After struggling last season, Bergoust opted to undergo surgery on his left shoulder in early April to clear up a problem that had bothered him since an injury just before the Olympics. The injury had limited his training jumps, which in turn affected his confidence, he said.

He had put off surgery, believing he could rehab the shoulder. But when the problem lingered, he decided to get the shoulder fixed.

"And here we are 4 1/2 months later, and I think it was a wise decision," he said. "It's definitely much better than it was in the 2002 season and it's not 100 percent yet."

Bergoust still can't bounce on a trampoline, an important part of aerialists' training. He only started jumping again in July and was limited to simpler jumps until recently. He figures he's still only at 80 percent.

Camplin, the first Australian woman to win Winter Olympic gold, trailed Kelly Hilliman of Tonawanda, N.Y., by just a tenth of a point after the first jump. Camplin lost both skis on her first landing, when she pitched forward on her double flip with three twists. A poolside diver retrieved her skis.

"I'm actually a forward lander," said Camplin, still jet-lagged after arriving Wednesday from Australia. "I reckon that's the best way to prepare for snow landings."

But Camplin's winning ways in Utah held on the second round, when she topped Hilliman with another double flip with three twists to take the title with a combined total of 41.7 points. Hilliman finished just .3 points behind. Camplin, who also won the world championships at Deer Valley earlier this year, said she was thrown by the 1 1/2-hour lag between training Saturday afternoon and her first jump after 4 p.m.

"I've never experienced that before," she said. "I wasn't sharp. My takeoff wasn't as strong, so I was a little bit slow right at the end. On the second jump, I tried to be more aggressive and stronger in the takeoff."

Immediately after Hilliman's second jump, Camplin strode around the pool deck in her ski boots to offer a congratulatory hug.

Camplin planned to use her $5,000 prize to pay for her airfare from Australia. Hilliman, who had never performed her second jump until doing it twice in training on Saturday, thought she would use her earnings to help pay for a new car. Her boyfriend totaled his car last week, she said.

Layton's Sharlee Strebel took third, also with a jump she had never performed in competition, and had only learned on Friday.

2003 Sprint Ultimate Airwave
Saturday's Results
At Utah Olympic Park, Park City

Women
1. Alisa Camplin, Australia 19.3 points first jump, 22.4 points second jump, 41.7 points total
2. Kelly Hilliman, Tonawanda, N.Y., 19.4, 22.0, 41.4.
3. Sharlee Strebel, Layton, 19.1, 18.3, 37.4.
4. Christina Craddock, Newton, Mass., 19.2, 18.1, 37.3.
4. Jaime Myers, Boise, Idaho, 18.6, 18.1, 36.7.

Men
1. Eric Bergoust, Park City, 25.8, 28.6, 54.4.
2. Jeret Peterson, Boise, Idaho, 25.8, 25.3, 51.1.
3. Jerry Grossi, Chicago, 26.0, 23.5, 49.5.
4. Ryan St. Onge, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 23.1, 26.1, 49.2.
5. Matt Saunders, Conifer, Colo., 21.9, 24.8, 46.7.
6. Steve Omischl, Canada, 16.8, 22.4, 39.2.
7. Joe Pack, Park City, 16.8, 13.4, 30.2.
8. Brian Currutt, Cleveland, 9.3, 0.0, 9.3.

Airwave IV: Choj, Evans Repeat
US Ski Team
August 25, 2003

PARK CITY, Utah (Aug. 25) -- Two 1998 Olympians who won the first Sprint Ultimate Airwave aerials competition three years ago -- Matt Chojnacki (Aurora, CO) and Tracy Evans (Park City, UT) -- collected their second Airwave title Saturday in bright sunshine at Utah Olympic Park.

The Sprint Ultimate Airwave presented by Chevy Truck featured one-jump, head-to-head competition with the winner advancing to the next round of jumping into the splash pool before a sellout crowd. Chojnacki, who retired last winter, upended local hero Joe Pack, the 1999 Airwave winner who had trouble on his final jump during the exhibition event. Britt Swartley (Blue Bell, PA) edged Eric Bergoust (Missoula, MT), who has won just about everything else in aerials -- the 1998 Olympic title, the 1999 World Championships gold medal, the 2001 World Cup title -- but the Airwave.

In the two-skier synchro competition, in which athletes performed their tricks side by side, Evans and Brenda Petzold (Andover, MA) -- whom Evans defeated in the singles final -- took the women's competition by 17 points while Pack and Jeret Peterson (Boise, ID) edged Bergoust and Mariano Ferrario by 2.7 points for the victory.

Chojnacki, a University of Colorado student who returns to classes Monday in Boulder, hit a quad-quad, four twists and four somersaults after Pack stumbled. He's been training quad somersaults since June, he said, which gave him an advantage over the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerialists, who leave Wednesday for the opening World Cup events at Mount Buller, Australia.

Chojnacki said he had been doing "just a bit less [training] than most of the guys and girls on the U.S. team. But I came out here in mid-June. I've been training a lot, doing a lot of shows....this is the one event that I've been training for. All those guys behind me are training for the Olympics and that's what they should be doing. They should be doing triple somersaults," which is the most amount of flips skiers can do on snow on one jump.

Evans, who retired briefly after the '98 Winter Games but returned a year ago, has the same record as Chojnacki -- winner of the 1998 Chevy Truck Gold Cup aerials event, winner of the '98 Sprint Ultimate Airwave and winner again Saturday. Each received $6,600 for the win. "It's great. I love this atmosphere and this really gives me confidence going to Australia for the World Cup opening events," she said. She said postponing the Mount Buller events gave her -- and everyone on the Ski Team -- a chance to better prepare.

Coach Matt Christensen echoed her, saying he was a little anxious about watching his athletes try their first quads of the summer "but I'm comfortable with it now." He plans one more training session Sunday and then the Ski Team will take a couple of days off before heading to Australia.

Sprint Ultimate Airwave IV Presented by Chevy Truck
Utah Olympic Park
Park City, UT - Aug. 25

Men (Only finals scores)
1. Matt Chojnacki, Aurora, Colo., 124.36 points
2. Joe Pack, Park City, Utah, 71.75
3. Britt Swartley, Blue Bell, Pa.
4. Eric Bergoust, Missoula, Mont.
-
Women (Only finals scores)
1. Tracy Evans, Park City, Utah, 107.16
2. Brenda Petzold, Andover, Mass., 96.95
3. Jana Lindsey, Black Hawk, S.D.
4. Kate Reed, Montrose, Colo.
-
Synchro
Men
1. Pack/Jeret Peterson, Boise, Idaho, 133.50
2. Bergoust/Mariano Ferrario, Park City, Utah, 130.83
3. Jerry Grossi/Brian Currutt, both Park City, Utah, 127.71
-
Women
1. Evans/Petzold, 96.60
2. Reed/Kelly Hilliman, Tonawanda, N.Y., 79.04
2. Lindsey/Emily Cook, Belmont, Mass., 70.40

Ultimate Airwave Aerials on ESPN Today
September 11, 2003

Park City, Utah (Ski Press)-ESPN will broadcast coverage today (Sept. 11) at 1 p.m. EDT of this year's Sprint Ultimate Airwave VI aerials competition pitting Olympic and former World Cup ski champions in a competition that ends on a splash pool instead of on snow.

1998 Olympic champ and two-time World Cup champ Eric Bergoust, rebounding from springtime shoulder surgery, went into the Airwave at Utah Olympic Park looking to end his personal drought.

"I've won everything but the Airwave, so it'd be nice to finally get this one. I was part of the winning team last year but now that's back to an individual competition, that would be really nice to win it," Bergoust said.

Australian Alisa Camplin, the 2002 Olympic, 2003 world and World Cup champion, was the heavy favorite in the women's event but U.S. contenders included Kate Reed, who finished eighth in the world last year in World Cup aerials points and defending U.S. champion Christina Craddock.

The traditional sellout crowd at Utah Olympic Park added to the excitement as U.S. skiers were finishing their third training camp at Utah Olympic Park, jumping into the splash pool as they fine-tuned their jumps. The aerialists don't move to snow until shortly before the season resumes Dec. 5-6 in Ruka, Finland, but the pool - with its aerated bubbles softening the landing - helps, in part, to simulate snow conditions so they can train increasingly harder jumps.

ESPN is one of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team's broadcast partners, televising a variety of World Cup and domestic ski or snowboard competitions each winter. This season, there will be more than a dozen shows on ESPN providing coverage of alpine, freestyle, nordic, snowboarding, and disabled events. For a complete rundown, click on 'TV Schedule' at www.ussskiteam.com. (© 2003 Ski Press Media, inc).