Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: waterskiing

  • Deaf Mom’s Goal for 2010–Yes, I’m Gonna Barefoot Again.

    I turned 44 last August and I wasn’t too happy about it.  Forty four.  It had an omnious ring to it–one step closer to “middle age.”  I was feeling pretty much like my best years were behind me and I reflected on the years past.  Why-oh-why didn’t I appreciate my youth when I had it?  Why didn’t I enjoy my size-10 figure when I had it?   Why didn’t I run away to Florida and apply for a job as a show skier at Cypress Gardens when I was nineteen?

    Fast forward to fall of 2009, and the hubby sent me an email with a link to Judy Myers, the 66-year-old gal who was featured in a Subway video, Fit to Boom and on the Today show.   The videos aren’t captioned, but go take a look.  That’s right, that 66-year-old is skimming along the water on her bare feet.  She looks pretty darn good, doesn’t she?

    That video got me all fired up.  If a 66-year-old can barefoot, then I surely can do it again.  Heck, Banana George didn’t retire from barefooting until he was in his 90’s!

    So I decided that 2010 was going to be the year of getting back on my feet on top of the water.  That’s right, I’m going barefooting again.  I got in touch with Judy Myers and we started chatting back and forth via Facebook.  She will be in Florida in the spring and I’m going to join her for a day of barefooting in March.

    The last time I barefooted was about ten years ago– I lasted about one minute on the water.  I attempted to barefoot last summer but sank in both times.  So the last time I was really in shape and able to skim on the water was about 20 years ago. 

    Last week, I had a dream, and in the dream, I did a deep-water start with my legs wrapped around the rope– skimmed on top of the water on my butt and got up barefooting.  The last time I did that was in 1984.

    Stay tuned to the end of March to see if I can do that again.

    Karen at sixteen
    Karen at seventeen

  • The Power of Visualization and the Power of a Number

    People are always asking me why the number “22” is so special to me.  Before I explain why, let me ask you this: have you ever had a goal that was so burning bright that you just HAD to accomplish it?

    I started waterskiing when I was nine years old.  My father came home with an old, yellow boat.  Just like that.  Out of the blue.  He didn’t even discuss boat ownership with my mom.  Included with the boat were a pair of wooden water skis and a ski belt.  A belt, mind you.  None of those fancy molded water ski jackets.  Just a floatation belt.

    My father took my mom, sis and me out to a local lake in Indiana one evening.  None of us knew anything about waterskiing.  I don’t think my father even knew much about running a boat, much less pulling a skier.  I strapped on the skis and I was hooked.  I liked waterskiing.

    I was eleven when my parents bought the place on Christie Lake.   Dad got rid of the yellow boat and bought a cute little red boat.  After a few years of waterskiing and learning to slalom, I had a burning desire to learn to barefoot.  I kept watching the guys (including my  brother) zip around the lake on their bare feet.  There weren’t any other girls barefooting on the lake.  I picked up an issue of Waterskiingand discovered that there was a book by John Gillette called Barefooting.  I used my allowance and sent away for the book.

    I read the book from cover to cover.  I also set a goal: that I was going to barefoot by the end of that summer.  I had just turned sixteen that August.

    The first time I tried it, I planted my foot in the water and kicked off the ski.  Wham!  I tried again and again over several days.  I kept slamming into the water.  I decided to try a different method with a kneeboard.  I dragged my Mom to the local boat shop and begged her to buy a kneeboard.  It was $109– a lot of money back then.  I came home and tried out the kneeboard. The first several tries didn’t work.  I was really frustrated.  I went home and felt really discouraged.

    That night, I lay awake trying to figure out why I couldn’t do it.  I closed my eyes and suddenly visualized myself completing each step in the book.  I imagined how great it would feel to have the board drop away and the water beneath my feet.

    The next day was August 22.  The day that I finally learned to barefoot.

    So the number 22 has stayed with me since then.  Not so much because of the accomplishment, but because of the lesson behind it–the power of visualization.  If you can see yourself accomplishing something, you can do it.  I use the number 22 to remind me to stay on track, to visualize what I want to accomplish.

    How about you?  Have you ever used visualization and had it lead to success?  Do you have a special number that reminds you to accomplish something?

  • Waterskiing Memories


    A few nights ago, the hubby was flipping through channels and he came across Stunt Junkies, a program on the Discovery channel. The episode featured Scott Ellis, who was attempting to break a waterskiing jump record by jumping over more than fourteen boats.

    As I watched Scott break the record by jumping over a total of nineteen boats, I started thinking back to my own waterskiing days on Christie Lake. I had always dreamed of skiing in shows such as the ones held at Tommy Barlett’s or Cypress Gardens but I didn’t have the guts to follow the dreams.

    The summer that I turned sixteen, I decided that I would learn how to barefoot–to waterski on my own bare feet. At first, I tried using a waterski and kicking off the ski, but I found myself hitting the water face first. After too many face slams, I decided there had to be a better way. So thumbed through the pages of a barefooting book and learned about the “kneeboard start.” I dragged my mom to a local boat shop and we purchased a kneeboard.

    After a couple of days of trying, I finally planted my feet in the water and stood up. The kneeboard fell away and I suddenly found myself barefooting. I didn’t get very far, perhaps a few hundred feet. As I climbed into the boat, I learned that my friend Michele had the throttle wide open and the boat was moving at 39 mph instead of the 33 mph that we were aiming for. No wonder my feet were burning on such a short run.

    For the next three years after that, I waterskied and barefooted every chance that I could. I often barefooted with the other guys on the lake, competing to see who could make it all the way around the lake. One of the guys taught me to do a deepwater start which involved wrapping my feet around the rope, gliding on my back and then getting up on my bare feet.

    I have to thank my parents for all the gas they bought– some days we skied up to eight times a day.


    I’m now in my early forties and I haven’t barefooted in several years. My only consolation is that no other girl/woman on Christie Lake has successfully barefooted, so I still hold the title of the sole woman barefooter. My goal is to get back into barefooting– especially after seeing Scott Ellis jump a couple of boats. He’s got the same amount of gray hair that I do.

    But for some real inspiration, check out Banana George–he’s 91 years old and still footin!