Bragg Creek water skier Megan Pelkey has taken on the world again. And she’s beaten them all, again.
At the 2023 Jr. Masters waterskiing competition at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia last weekend, Pelkey placed third in both the trick competition and jump competition, and sixth in the slalom competition.
The three finishes translated into the overall gold medal.
Fellow Team Canada skier Nellie Allard from Quebec finished third overall.
The 16-year-old Pelkey had her personal best jump of 36.2 metres (119 feet), which helped her take home the gold medal in the overall competition.
She told The Eagle she’s still having as much fun as she was when she broke into competitive skiing.
“It’s still pretty exciting, I’d say,” she said from her training facility in Florida, where she’s preparing for the upcoming U21 World Championships.
She has the ability to block out distractions during competition, something she referred to after winning her last competition.
“All my hard work had paid off, and I was just along for the journey and the process,” she said. “I just tried to stay positive, and to see that pay off made me really happy.”
She previously won the U17 overall title in the PanAm Championships in Santiago, Chile, in December 2022. A month later, she became the U17 World Overall Champion.
She is now the Jr. Masters Overall Champion with two additional bronze medals. The awards shelf at the Pelkey house in Bragg Creek is overflowing.
Up next for Pelkey will be more training in Florida as she gets ready for the U21 World Championships, to be held June 12 to 17 in Chapala, Mexico, before moving on to San Gervasio, Italy for a pro-am competition July 15 and 16.
She wanted to pass along her thanks to her sponsors, who helped her along what she called her “skiing journey.” That list includes Calgary companies Benpro Technologies, Prooftest Consulting, and Shuswap Ski & Board.
Pelkey’s father Bob, (who is kept busy driving Megan’s sisters to their various competitions in water skiing and downhill skiing) said his family was very proud of her accomplishments on the world stage.
“Her discipline to tirelessly train all three events and to go out and compete in all three disciplines is something which takes a large amount of effort and commitment,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier for her.”
