Congrats to Valerie Shinn, who won the award for the “Most Improved Barefooter” during the Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center. The prize is sponsored by Vibram Five Fingers and includes a pair of barefoot shoes.
Valerie accomplished her first long line backward deep water start on WBC shoes:
Watch this young 61-year-old in action:
The 2011 Women’s Barefoot Week started off with a rainy Halloween, but the gals got into the spirit donning some costumes. The boys, David Small, Keith St. Onge and Swampy joined in on the fun. The gals planned to barefoot in the costumes, but with the rain coming down, that idea was tossed out. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (Karen Putz) had painted red glitter shoes on her feet, cinching her for the “Best Halloween Costume.”
The gals came from all over– including Mandy Wood, who managed a 27 hour trip from Australia. Judy Myers was recovering from knee surgery and after duct-taping her $1,400 brace, she went out and did everything she could do before–including a long line back deep and back toe hold. (Yeah, she’s baaaaack!) Joann O’Connor employed the Patience, Persistence and Perseverance policy all week long as she worked on her back deep on a 15-foot line–she spurred the rest of us on! “My new trick was learning to do one foot cut outs on shoes– KSO had me doing them like a pro on my fused ankle!” said Joann. “I never even thought I could go one foot on that side, but the cutting angle works great. I can’t go straight on that foot but I will be able to learn one foot wakes!”
Claudia Landon worked on her back one foots with both feet. Sharon Carlson was nursing a sore knee, but she joined Claudia in the quest for back one foots along with Mandy. “I’m very excited that I did back one- foot–I picked it up, and put it down three times in a row in one pass,” said Claudia. “According to John MacDonald, the 82 year old from Texas whom we ski with in the summer– after you do a trick three times in a row, you own it!”
Debbie Fahrenthold was back on the water for the first time– five years after surgery for a brain tumor. She tackled the water with gusto, first on shoes, then her feet, and even on one foot with shoes! Carolyn Scott nailed her back deep on the short line and tackled some forward wakes. Karen Putz accomplished her first back toe hold on shoes– and Keith introduced her to a couple of back-to-fronts on the last set (she still has to learn to ride them out.) Diane Schaupp was the youngest gal in the group. She worked on wakes– both forwards and backwards, and succeeded in a back one foot crossing on a shoe!
“The best part of women’s week was meeting some incredibly inspirational women,” said Diane. “All you ladies have had some difficulty that you’ve had to overcome in life. It would be easy to use a fused ankle or screws in the wrist or being deaf as an excuse to not get out there on the water–but instead, these difficulties are used as a reason to work harder and keep trying to accomplish new tricks. For me, the two days I spent with you ladies was more than just about learning new tricks on the water… it was about an unexpected lesson in life… and one I’ll never forget.”
A special thanks to Women’s Barefoot Week sponsors: Vibram5Fingers, Coconut Bliss, Badger Balm, and Popchips — it was a great week!
WOMENS WEEK 2011 from WorldBarefootCenter on Vimeo.
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Check out Barefoot Wine’s “Foot Fan of the Month” for June–it’s the Fab Five ladies: Judy Myers, Val Shinn, Joann O’Connor, Claudia Landon and Karen Putz. The five ladies met up at the Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center in October, 2010.
Judy Myers
Known as the “Old Lady,” Judy started barefooting at the age of 53. She’s been featured in More Magazine, on the Today Show and Suzanne Somers show. She did a Subway “Fit to Boom” segment. At her very first tournament, all she could do was stand up. Last summer, she competed in the Worlds. Today, this 68-year-old gal tells the younger gals to “suck it up” when they dare complain about their aching muscles after a run. But at the end of Women’s week, we discovered her secret drug stash: a huge bottle of Motrin.
Val Shinn
Dubbed “The Show Girl,” Val presents grace on the water every time she barefoots. Don’t let Val fool you– at first glance, it doesn’t seem like this delicate lady even belongs on the water, much less in a tough sport like barefooting. Watch her on the water, and your jaw will drop, the lady can glide! At the age of 60, Val still climbs pyramids in weekly water ski shows. Every Thursday, she hosts a radio show on astrological topics.
Valerie Shinn–Show Girl on the Water
Joann O’Connor
Joann is one tough gal– she skis on a fused ankle, the result of a motorcycle accident many years ago. The 62-year-old picked up barefooting again ten years ago. Three years ago, she figured out how to make adjustments with her ankle and learned to barefoot backwards. Some days, her back gives out and she has to crawl back into the boat, but a few minutes later, she’s back out on the water doing toe holds.
Barefooting with a Senior Citizen
Claudia Landon
Claudia is “pure poetry on water.” When she does her back deep starts, she rises out of the water with the grace of a ballet dancer. Claudia started barefooting at the age of 37 and ten years later, she entered her first barefooting tournament. Just recently, she qualified for the Worlds in tricks. Claudia has endured several ear drum blowouts. She once donned ear plugs, a headband, a swim cap and a helmet to protect a burst eardrum, and then took a fall where the helmet collided with her arm–breaking the bone. “I don’t think my arm is supposed to look like this,” she told her husband when the boat came to pick her up. I think the rest of us would have been screaming in pain.
Claudia Landon, Pure Poetry on Water
Karen Putz
Karen tripped on a wake as a teen and went from hard of hearing to deaf in an instant. In March of 2010, Karen met Judy and Keith, and put her feet back on the water again. She taught the entire WBC boat crew to sign “awesome,” so now they praise her from 75 feet away.
Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center will take place on October 29th to Nov, 6th 2011. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up for your spot by calling the World Barefoot Center at 863-877-0039 and ask for the Women’s Barefoot Week Coordinator, Judy Myers. The week is open to women ages 20 to 100– and all ability levels. There is a fifteen percent discount on ski rates (no weekend rates charged) and all pro shop purchases. Skiers can stay at the ski school house, the rental house down the road (complete with a hot tub!) or at local hotels.
“Women’s Barefoot Week is a special week set aside just for the gals,” said Judy. “Women are the minority in this sport, so it’s nice to have a week to kick back and ski with other women and enjoy some fun on the water together.”
This year, Women’s Barefoot Week will feature a “Ski in Your Costume” challenge on Halloween.
Keith St. Onge, David Small and Swampy dove into the spirit of Women’s Barefoot week in 2010 by donning pink shirts and skirts for the day. “We got in touch with our feminine side that week,” joked Keith. It will be interesting to see what Judy cooks up for the guys at the 2011 Women’s Barefoot Week. Rumor has it that it just might be dresses this time– and the guys will have to barefoot in ‘em!
Women’s Barefoot Week 2010 is featured in the March 2011 issue of Waterski magazine and Tales from the Foot: A Look Back at the WBC Women’s Week. Karen Putz did a write up on the Chicago Tribune Chicago Now blog: Women’s Week at the World Barefoot Center.
Special thanks to the sponsors of Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center:
Vibram Five Finger Barefoot Sport Shoes
