Richard Downing Pope Jr. (December 12, 1930 – November 8, 2007), better known as Dick Pope Jr., was a World Champion

water skier Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

and an important business leader in Central Florida. Pope was an important innovator in the sport of water skiing, including the development of

barefoot skiing Barefoot skiing is water skiing behind a motorboat without the use of water skis, commonly referred to as "barefooting". Barefooting requires the skier to travel at higher speeds (30-45 mph/50–70 km/h) than conventional water skiing ...

in 1947. He is the son of

Dick Pope Sr. Richard Downing Pope Sr. (April 19, 1900 – January 28, 1988), better known as Dick Pope, was the founder of Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. He was also known as "Mr. Florida" and "Mr. Water Skiing." He played a key role in the develop ...

, the founder of

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

theme park.

Personal life

Pope was born in Long Island, New York. When he was just 18 months old, the family moved to

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making i ...

. In 1936, his parents,

and Julie Pope, opened

, one of the earliest theme parks in America. Dick Pope Sr. played an important role in the development of Florida tourism and the growth of the sport of water skiing. Pope served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was known to carry a scratch pad to make notes about fishing conditions. He was also an expert marksman and champion skeet shooter. Pope and his wife Frances at one time held the husband-wife 12-gauge world title for skeet shooting. When

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

was scouting for a location for a second, even larger theme park, the Pope family promoted Cypress Gardens and Central Florida. Dick Pope Jr. is said to have been key to convincing Walt Disney to select Orlando as the home of

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

Water skiing career

In 1947, Pope was one of the first people to successfully barefoot waterski. He and his friends in

discovered that if the speed of the boat was increased high enough, then barefoot waterskiing became possible. Photographs and newsreels of Pope barefoot waterskiing at speeds in excess of 40 mph became an international sensation at the time. The media attention was created by his father,

, to generate publicity for Cypress Gardens, but it also helped popularize water skiing worldwide. That same year, at age 17, Dick Pope Jr. won his first National Water Ski Title. In 1949, Pope competed in the first Water Skiing World Championships. He skied all out at the first World Championships, taking youthful risks, and losing out to more conservative European skiers. In 1950, he won his first World Title. He was particularly known for tricks. He was one of several skiers from that era who would "climb the rope" in order to get greater height on a jump. This practice is banned in the sport today because of its extreme danger. In 1952, he became the first person to complete a 540 jump off a ramp.

Cypress Gardens

Pope succeeded his father,

, as president of

in 1962. He took the company public in 1972, and was elected chairman of the board in 1982 before the company was sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Tournament results

* 1947 National Overall Champion * 1948 National Overall Champion * 1949 National Overall Champion * 1950 National Overall Champion * 1950 World Slalom Champion * 1950 World Jump Runner-up * 1950 World Tricks Fifth Place * 1950 World Overall Champion

External links

References