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I am very excited to have received a huge historical data base from Tom Davis. There are many images and historical gems like this 1951 cover of First Issue of The Water Skier Magazine. Also there are tons of scores and historical rankings in the vault. Stay tuned to BallOfSpray as we figure out the best way to share them with the skiing world.
 It only took about 15 minutes of a phone conversation to find out Sandy Swaney-Lecklider still has that same competitive fire of 50 years ago. During a winter stay in Vero Beach, Fla., last year, she was having a difficult time convincing some of her lady friends that not only was she a former world water ski champion, but that she could still ski. "Oh, they were giving me a hard time," says Swaney-Lecklider, 67, who recently took time out of her busy retirement to discuss the October 1951 issue - the first issue - of The Water Skier in which she appeared on the cover. "And one of them had a boat and said we needed to go out on the water. So I told myself that I had to get out and show them I can ski. I didn't have any skis with me, so I went over to a Play-It-Again Sports and found a vintage Dick Pope ski for $10. I couldn't believe it. Next thing you know I'm skiing down the Indian River behind a boat loaded with people. It was a lot of fun."
She says she had no idea what laid ahead of her that summer day in 1951. Fresh off winning the Junior Girls North American Championship in Toronto, Canada, Sandy Swaney - the 16-year-old water skiing protege of Chuck Sligh - was simply planning on a normal work shift at Sligh's Grand Rapids Chair Company. • But shortly after she arrived, Isabel Howe, Sligh's secretary and the co-editor of the American Water Ski Association's "News Bulletin," informed Sandy that she would be appearing with Sligh, the newly-elected president of AWSA, on the cover of the first issue of The Water Skier. "I went to all of the tournaments with the Slighs and was just working down at the Chair Company. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," says Swaney-Lecklider, a Lifetime Member of the association. "I didn't really think of it as any big deal at the time. But over the years I've showed the issue to my grandchildren and lots of other people. It's been an absolute thrill and brings hack a lot of great memories."
Sandy's water skiing career began at the age of 14 when she served as the "jump wetter" (she poured water on the ramp) at the 1949 Water Ski National Championships on Lake Macatawa in Holland, Mich. "I sat under the jump ramp all day and watched the skiing," she says. "That's how it all started. It looked like so much fun and I wanted to try it."
Four years later she was one of four girls chosen to represent the United States at the Water Ski World Championships in Toronto. She jumped 53 feet - six feet shy of the world record - to win the Women's world jumping title. She would later sign a summer contract to ski with Tommy Bartlett's Florida Water Ski and Jumping Boat Thrill Show, and in 1955 she married Courtney Alan Lecklider and spent a lot of her free time giving water skiing lessons. "I always loved teaching," she says. "It didn't matter how old somebody was. I taught a 4-year-old and I taught an 87year-old. Water skiing provided me with so much joy."
Sandy and Courtney raised two daughters in Macatawa, Mich., and now love spending time with their four grandchildren. The couple resides in Macatawa in the summer months and Vero Beach in the winter. But Sandy remains as busy as ever. She traveled to England for a week in September, and says she is anxiously looking forward to the annual snow skiing trip with her grandchildren later this winter. She also runs nine miles a week and enjoys golf. Tennis, kayaking, sailing, and of course, the occasional water ski session. "I'm still very much on the move." she says, her voice rising with enthusiasm. "I'm very blessed."
by Scott Atkinson
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