Five Seasons Ski Team ready to ride the waves

CEDAR RAPIDS - From jumps to pyramids, Cedar Rapids' Five Seasons Ski Team does it all.

The team shows off its long hours of practice every Thursday on the Cedar River at Ellis Park. The shows are scheduled to start Thursday at 7 p.m.

Xavier freshman Maddye Cavanagh is excited about her seventh season with the team and ready to get back in the water.

Cavanagh climbs the pyramids and also swivel skis for the team.

'Swivel skiing is when the binding on your skis rotates 360 degrees,” Cavanagh said.

It is not always perfect water skiing weather in Cedar Rapids, so during the off-season Cavanagh and her teammates work out at the Cedar Rapids Association of Gymnastics, climbing pyramids and perfecting routines before they get on the water.

Cavanagh competes alongside skiers ranging in age from 6 to 50.

Ski team alum Daryll Bohrer still enjoys heading out to watch the team perform on Thursdays nights.

Bohrer, who enjoyed barefoot and slalom skiing when he was on the team, still takes his boat out and skis with friends and family.

'As a kid I always wished we had a boat to spend time on the water and ski,” he said. 'The ski team gave me the opportunity to be on the water and learn to ski.”

The ski team spends 16 or more hours at practice per week.

'Some people do not know how much work actually goes into being on the team because it is a lot of practices a week,” Cavanagh, said.

In addition to the Thursday night shows, the Five Seasons Ski Team will compete at the Mercury Open in Janesville, Wis., on June 25, the Midwest Regional in Waterloo July 29-31 and the national championships Aug. 12-14 in Janesville. Wis.