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12-year-old Nova Scotian prepares for Pan American Water Ski Championships

12-year-old Nova Scotian prepares for Pan American Water Ski Championships

A 12-year-old girl from Fall River, N.S., is leaving her wetsuit and chilly Canadian waters behind to compete at the Pan American Water Ski Championships in Chapala, Mexico, next month.

Olivia Chute, who won in her category at the 2016 Water Ski Nationals in August, will be joining three boys from Alberta and British Columbia to form the under-13 team in Mexico.

In total, 25 Canadian skiers will be competing in the championships from Nov. 14 to 20.

'Really cold'

Chute, who starts wearing a wetsuit at the beginning of September to continue training in Nova Scotia waters, said she stopped practising at home on Third Lake in Fall River about a week ago. The water was 12 C.

"It gets really cold," she said.

Chute and her mother plan to travel to Florida on Friday, to fit in some more practice time before the championships in Mexico.

Started at age 6

Chute first started water skiing recreationally when she was six years old. Three years later, the local water skiing association visited her lake with a pair of trick skis, and she got to try them for the first time.

As Chute's mom, Andrea Hawkins, remembers it, the coach said: "She seems to have a natural ability for this, you should consider a competition."

Hawkins said she didn't even know there was such thing as competitive water skiing. "It opened up our eyes and here we are today."

'100 falls for every trick'

If you want to learn to do tricks on water skis, you have to be prepared to fall a lot, Chute said. "Some people say 100 falls for every trick."

The most difficult trick in her arsenal took almost two months to learn, she said.

​​Chute said she's working on a new trick where she starts in a backwards position, does a 540-degree turn in the air, and lands facing forward. "It's a really hard trick, but I'm starting to get it consistently now," she said.

She also loves doing toe turns, she said, where she uses her foot to hold the rope while doing rotations.

Dance training

Chute, who does ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop dance as well as ice hockey, said her training as a dancer helps her balance on the water "and find my centre of gravity."

Chute will also be competing in the slalom category, where the skier is pulled faster and faster through a course of buoys until they reach a maximum speed and the rope is shortened.

The maximum speed for her age group is 52 kilometres per hour. It feels "pretty fast," she said.

Provincial record-holder

Chute holds provincial records in both trick skiing and slalom.

The competition in Mexico will be tough, Chute said, but she's going to try not to compare herself to others too much.

"I'm going to try my best and be satisfied with how I do," she said, "compared to my other performances."