The Rick Aqua Jays Water Ski Show Team is an amateur

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

club in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...

. The club participates in show skiing, which involves water ski acts that are choreographed to music and built around a theme that tells a story. The Rick Aqua Jays has about 150 members.

History

The Rock Aqua Jays ski club was formed in 1960.Rock Aqua Jays History
That same year it was one of four founding member groups of the Wisconsin Water Ski Federation. In 1961, the club assumed the name "Rock Aqua Jays". The club practices on the Rock River at Traxler Park in Janesville, where they hold twice weekly shows between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Rock Aqua Jays initiated the first national tournament of the National Show Ski Association, the Show Ski National Championships, which were held in August, 1975. They have hosted the national tournament in Janesville 26 of the 39 times it has been held. In 2012 they hosted the first ever World Water Ski Show Tournament.Karla Nagy
"Janesville’s Rock Aqua Jays Host World Tournament"
''Northwest Quarterly'', Summer 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2013. The club was the first amateur team to build the three-high pyramid (1974), the four-high pyramid (1981), and the five-high pyramid (1993). They hold the record for the largest pyramid in competition: 44 people (2003). They were the first amateur American ski team to perform in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in 1999. In 2012, in collaboration with the Chinese Water Ski Team, the Aqua Jays set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the number of humans to water ski in a pyramid: 55. They have won the national show ski tournament a record 19 times, and placed second in the event 12 times. The Aqua Jays have also won the Wisconsin State Show Tournament a record 15 times. They have taken the triple crown of show skiing 11 times, and were named the National Show Ski Association Team of the Year 6 times.

Honors and awards

Sources:

2014

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show TournamentUSA Water Ski.
Rock Aqua Jays Win 2014 Mercury Open
.

2013

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2012

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2011

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2010

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2009

* 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2008

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

2007

* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2006

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament * 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2005

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2004

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament * 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament

2003

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2002

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 2nd - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2001

* 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

2000

* 2nd - Wisconsin State Show Tournament

1999

* National Show Ski Association Team of the Year * 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 2nd - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

1998

* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

1997

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

1996

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 1st - Mercury Invitational Show Tournament

1995

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1994

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1993

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :*1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :*1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1992

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1991

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1990

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1989

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament * 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1988

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1987

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1986

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament

1985

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1984

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1983

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1982

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1981

* Triple Crown: :* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament :* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament :* 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

1980

* 1st - Wisconsin State Show Tournament * 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1979

* 1st - U.S. National Show Tournament

1977

* 2nd - U.S. National Show Tournament

1975

* 1st - Lamb's Farm Invitational Tournament

References

{{reflist

External links

Rock Aqua Jays website

The Greatest Show on Skis
- ''WaterSki'' magazine, July 2003
It's a Long Way to the Top
- ''WaterSki'' magazine, June 2001
USA Waterski

Waterskiing Janesville, Wisconsin Sports in Wisconsin 1960 establishments in Wisconsin Sports clubs established in 1960