Water Skiing mourns one of its greatest champions – Andy Mapple 1962 - 2015

[Roger]

Wow, not sure how to react, just blown away like everyone else I guess. Andy seemed to have it all, personable, talented, and the consummate sportsman. My wife and I took a vacation to Germany and Austria in 1991 and would up at the finals of the Worlds in Villach Austria. Mike Kjellander, Lucky Lowe and Andy all tied with 2@39 in the final so they all had to go back out at 38 for the runoff. Lucky got 5 or 5.5 as I recall. Mike came up short and was visibly unhappy with himself and just skied down the lake. Andy also came up short, but waved to the crowd as he skied away. Guess who was the first one to congratulate Lucky on the win, Andy! I'll never forget that moment. A great loss and my thoughts go out to the family.

[Wish]

@ToddL what a great pic!!!

[Jody_Seal]

Andy was essentially my co worker and team member for over 25 years. We worked together on many research and development projects at Nautiques/ Correct Craft. New boat design and the early beginnings of speed control on up to our current 200 and Zero Off. Our company will miss him dearly he was an ambassador around the world for Correct Craft / Nautique's. Always a Gentleman and a arbitrator. I only seen him angry once and in the very next instant apologize for his anger. Very Smart, articulate And very Generous, He loved to design and tinker with about anything mechanical.

I have many many story's I can relate from my many years of interaction with Andy and they all are either fun, educational or inspirational. Nothing really stands out but I will relate a story that comes to mind.

About 8 years back when Andy was still with Obrian we were at the Masters and Andy asked if he could take a ski ride while Lester Todd was checking out the slalom boat before the event the next day. I jumped in the boat and rode and watched as Andy opened up at 28 off and proceeded to run down the line. this was my first time to see 41 get run from the boat. also keep in mind we were running not 36 but 35 mph. after the 41 off pass Andy skied back to the Pavilion and as we came back with the boat Andy asked me where my cordless screw gun was.... I watched him thinking he was going to do some kind of adjustment Then he removed his bindings set them aside and handed me the ski and said here it is now trained go ski!!

 

I will miss our Friend but I know his Wife and Family will Dearly miss him.

 

 

 

 

[Andy]

So sad and so tragic. A great man who will be dearly missed.

[Tdub]

What a tragic loss. Our club had the pleasure of skiing with Andy in 2005 at our site. A perfect gentleman and great guy. He will be missed by all.

[madcityskier]

Lots of posts here, so I may have missed this one.

Has anyone mentioned the time Andy was on a podium with Glen Campbell and sang him Rhinestone Cowboy?

 

[Bruce_Butterfield]

I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Andy a little over the last few years and have ridden his skis about 7 of the last 10 years. He has always been very helpful in setup and great to work with in getting the right ski. As mentioned by many others, he was a gentleman and first class act all the time.

 

While his skiing accomplishments are numerous and well known, the one that sticks out in my mind was at a Coors Light tour stop in the late ‘80s. In the challenge round, there was a 15-20mph wind from across open water and the course was nearly whitecapping. Skier after skier went down on the opening pass, including Mike Kjellander, Wade Cox, and Sammy Duvall. Finally Mick Neville made a few at 32, BLP and KLP ran 2@35, and Carl Roberge managed 3@35. Andy was the last skier, cruised 35 in a brutal tailwind, came back and ran 4@38. At that point, several of the officials decided he simply wasn’t human.

 

Think about that for a minute - he ran 4@38 in conditions where ¾ of the world’s best open men slalom skiers couldn’t make their opener. He was in a class by himself, both on and off the water.

 

RIP my friend. Prayers go out to Deena and the rest of the family.

 

[Ed_Johnson]

@Bruce_Butterfield ... Right along those lines, we have had a standing "Andy" statement on our Lake for several years now...That is, whenever someone says, I'm not gona ski, it's to rough out, one of us will always point out,...Hey, Andy would tell you ...."Are you kidding me, this is nothing."

 

Works every time.....And it's true......So the Legend lives on !!!!

 

 

[Ralph Lee]

Shocked! Depressed... Great person!! great family!! Hard to understand.

[gman]

Oh no! A hero taken way too early. There are no words! Andy leaves a gaping hole too big to fill, how heartbreaking. Andy came to Minnesota a number of times and it was always a treat. His easy way and quick sense of humor leave imprints for a lifetime. I can still picture him driving the boat and when I pulled out at the end of a pass to shorten, I said, "Got any tips for me?" Andy replied, "You should consider taking up tennis!" The whole boat erupted in laughter. Hilarious. That was 15 years ago and I remember that pearl like it happened yesterday. He was like that, we couldn't wait until seeing him again.

[6balls]

I skied with Andy just once about 2 years ago. I pull big...in the first PP tourney I skied I got 4 slow time re-rides and then realized I needed to add 50 lbs to my body weight to get times. I broke ropes frequently.

 

I'm a little better now, but habits die hard. I ran some passes at Andy's and I can't remember exactly what Andy was trying to tell me, but in any event I asked for clarification..."Andy I'm not sure I understand could you maybe say that another way?". "OK let me make it simple, pull harder". "What???" "Yeah, pull harder. I want you earlier at 2 than you were at 1, earlier at 3 then you were at 2. By the time you get to 6 I want you to be able to brew coffee before the ball...does that help?" "Ya know...no one has EVER told me to pull harder before". "Well, now they have...so get after it"

 

What a riot. I couldn't make the Mapple work very well for me...but he took the time to watch me ski on my Razor as well, looked at my fin/wing, and thought it was pretty well dialed for my style.

 

I also remember Andy giving us some instruction on shore. He was mimicking a reach extension and I knew he was tall...but when that guy spread his arms he was like some sort of loosely strung pre-historic condor! Amazing the length, fluidity and extension of his arms...part of his gift. Only skied there once, glad I had the chance.

 

The day started getting long as we had a number of skiers...so I made a run to a crappy gas station down the way and came back with some average pizza. All were appreciative including the GOAT.

 

Great guy Mapple Family...now and forever.

[promoboatingskier]

Still sick at my stomach after hearing this yesterday afternoon

 

I was able to ski several times with Andy at various clinics he'd coach at. In recent years I've had the opportunity to go and ski at the Mapple Training Center with Andy and some of my friends ( @Alvin_Neff , @richfoster).

 

Just this May, a couple of weeks before the Masters, we were all able to have dinner with Mike, Andy and Deena. My wife was with us-having met the Mapples for the first time. Later that night (after we'd all sat around for an hour after eating-making our servers a little mad) she told me that my description of Andy was correct-he really IS an amazing, husband, dad, skier and human. She asked me if he was like and idol to me...I replied to her that Andy should be everyone's idol!

 

Another time skiing with Andy, one of the drivers/skiers in our group offered to pull Andy as he was trying a new ski one evening after we were finished with our skiing-driver asked Andy how and where he liked the boat driven through the coarse....as Andy hopped off the platform with his ski on and handle in hand he replied... "I'll put the boat where I want it".

 

I will never forget and always cherish the times we had in the presence of such greatness of a person as Andy.

 

@mike_mapple , we're praying for your Mother, Sister and You.

[hemlock]

Mike Kjellander was my hero when I first starting water skiing at a young age.

At that time, it seemed Mike and Andy were the guys to beat at any world class tournament.

I had(and still have) so much respect for both guys.

 

Fast forward 30 years or so... youtube is invented.... and there is Andy still kicking slalom ass, giving back to the world his knowledge about waterskiing.

 

I raise my Johnny Walker glass to you Andy.

 

 

 

[gregoryhcain]

I met him once at Blue Lake in Oregon at a Pro Tour stop. I am a skiing nobody, but a great fan of the sport. He chatted with me between rounds as he was organizing his gear; like I was a regular skiing buddy. I thought to myself, I am talking to arguably the greatest skier ever, and he seems just like an ordinary fella, no ego, no pretense, just a genuinely nice guy hanging out by the dock getting ready to ski. My story and so many others like it more than validate the kind of person he was. Waterskiing has suffered a great loss. However, those of us who have admired him from afar or have been lucky enough to have met him have been blessed by his time on earth. I hope the wakes are always perfect and the lines are always short in heaven :smile: God Bless You Andy Mapple

[Phil2360]

My son & I sent Andy a photo of my boy skiing over 10 years ago, when he was first learning to slalom, aged around 5, he's 18 now.

 

Andy's reply included an Autographed DVD.

What great encouragement for a small boy out in Australia.

 

A truly giving role model for the sport & total gentleman.

 

Highly respected & will be missed in this family.

 

[drewski32]

So sad. Andy was in the boat coaching me at a clinic the first time I ever ran a full pass. He could tell that I loved it, and I'll never forget him telling me to give this sport everything I have, to leave nothing on the dock. He was the spark that led me to fall in love with this sport. He will live forever in every set I take

[9400]

I drove for Andy 1 time in my life, I believe it was 2003 late in the ski season. We had a "C" tournament on one lake and a simultaneous "R" tournament on an adjacent lake. Our "R" tournaments in the early 2000s were like Pro Events. We would have 10 or 15 of the Top 20 in the world rankings in our fall events. This particular tournament Andy showed up...not for him but for his son @mike_mapple (Andy was not intending to ski, plus we have the wrong boats). We have this idea to get Andy to ski the "C" event in Mens 3 at 34 (he wasn't that hard to convince). At this point, I had driven for most of the top guys except for Andy, Jeff, and Wade at one time or another. So I'm driving Mens 3 and Andy shows up on the starting dock (he was still at the top of the slalom world at this time, but had not skied in 6 weeks according to him). We're using perfect pass and I add a bunch of RPMs because it's Andy and I figure he's going to add more load than anyone on the planet. So we run the opener and the first thing I notice is that he loads from wider than anyone I had ever driven. We get to the end and it's still on the slow side so I jack more RPMs into the perfect pass and we go and do it again. This happens over and over until we're at -41. Now at this point I know nobody has run 41 at 34 in a tournament, not even close. The funny thing I still remember about that pass was his patience in the turn, me thinking he was done to suddenly feeling him rocket to the other side. He runs that and then 2 at -43. I looked to the shore and everyone who was in the R tournament had abandoned that side and came over to watch Andy ski 34. I had ridden in the boat when Andy skied in other tournaments and you could tell he was a focused skier, this particular day he was very chatty and seemed to really enjoy the ride.

Later in the day he runs 4 at -43 behind Dana Reed.... I wish Andy and Dana were here to describe it.

 

[2tracmind]

My first slalom ski was the O'Brien Competitor, the year Andy won his first world championship. I stayed on a RTP because Andy wore a RTP, "there must be a reason" I thought.

We hosted Andy, his mother and sister for a 3 day camp in beautiful British Columbia, Canada in 2010 or 2011 on his first Mapple Tour. On his trip summary he thanked our group organizer for a trip of a life time. Feeling extremely grateful that we provided a trip of a life time for Andy, his mother and sister.

On my first set his feedback was that my free arm was swinging wildly during my offside turn. I said " I am just waving to the fans" Andy replied " wait until Six ball, that's where the fat chicks hang out". "Game ON" for a great three days of laughter and a Bucket List experience.

Andy Mapple was a World Champion at everything I witnessed him do.

Honored to have had some of his time.

[JAG]

Ted Williams said one time that his goal was to one day walk down a street and have someone recognize him and say, "there goes the greatest hitter there ever was". I've only been to one water ski competition, taking the opportunity to ride my motorcycle to a Big Dawg event at Lake Jepawhit in MI. I think it was 2009. I'm there by myself, taking pictures and relishing watching Ben Favret and Dave Miller tear it up. All of a sudden I see a tall man walk by and the gentleman next to me looks at me and calmly says, "that's Andy Mapple, the greatest skier there ever was".

 

You've inspired even mortals like me to be excited at getting a buoy or two at 15 off.

 

RIP Andy

 

RPG

[skitexas]

Andy was and always will be a TRUE professional. He is what made the sport of waterskiing as great as it is. He was humble in his greatness & that's extremely rare for an elite athlete. His legacy will continue through his wife, children, fans, students & the products that he created. Heaven is now on the map as far as waterskiing is concerned.

[Razorskier1]

@bananaron - been skiing the same walleye chop the last few times I've skied. I look at it every time and say it sucks. Then my wife says, "I've seen you run 35 off in worse". Of course, then I have to ski . . . AND run 35 off! Like Andy, I believe in practicing in most conditions -- makes you a better skier on the days when the water lays down.

 

Still trying to process the fact that he isn't at the Mapple Performance Center right now. Damn.

[Fatroll]

My Tuesday mourning setup

 

Thanks Andy

 

 

[Tdub]

I just discovered this pic of Andy at a seminar he conducted at our site in 2005. I will always remember that day as one of my favorites enjoying the sport we love. Andy treated our entire club as old friends. What a great human being.

[Goose]

Back in the 80's during the Pro Tour events the commentator Wayne Grimditch would say Andy Mapple is "A ECONOMY OF MOTION". I don't think it could have been said better

[XR6Hurricane]

@mike_mapple I am so sorry. I lost my mom at 62, and my father lost his father at 51 - both totally unexpectedly. I know exactly how it feels. Hang in there buddy and carry on just like your father would want you to.

[ForrestGump]

Husband, father, friend, mentor, innovator, competitor, warrior, leader, jokester......... All the words people use to describe Andy. If my family, friends, and acquaintances know me as three of those things when I go, I've done something.

 

When I first started racing bikes I looked up Andy's placements at bike races earlier in the year. He beat a bunch of Cat 1s and 2s at a crit and road race one weekend, winning one, placing 2nd in the other, and winning the General Classification. I chuckled when I saw that and wondered if those guys knew they'd been soundly trounced by a world class athlete from another sport who took up cycling as a retirement sport. :)

[Wish]

Kristy Overton-Johnson has posted a great video on her Facebook page. It should be placed here as well, but don't know how.

[usaski1]

this might work... great tribute!

 

[dthate]

That is a beautiful tribute Kristy

 

 

When Andy is face to face with the Creator of the universe and everything in it, I believe God will say "well done my good and faithful servant". What more is there? Thanks Andy, blessings to Deena, Mike and Elyssa

[Wish]

@usaski1 that's it.

[rwskier]

I had met Andy only one time in my life but I will never forget the experience. It was 1980 and being a young want to be water skier, I decided to book some lessons at Liz Allen’s ski school in Florida. Now I had never been on a plane before nor had I ever been to the east coast. When I booked my time there I was reassured that someone would pick me up at the airport once I landed in town. I was extremely anxious for my experiences at Ski School. Never once did I ask how I was going to “picked up” at the airport, but had all the faith in the world that someone would be there for me. Once I landed and got off the plane I realized that I never inquired as to how I was going to know who was picking me up and of course just figured it would be one of the workers of the ski school. I de-boarded the plane, and no one was there, so I proceed to baggage claim and patiently wait for my ski to come down the oversize Shute. Only then did someone approach me and say “are you Russell?” I being the young naive fool that I was just assumed this was one of the workers of the ski school. We proceeded to board the van and head towards the school. A short time later this worker this worker stated that they were hungry and would I mind if we stopped at McDonalds to get some food. I of course after flying across the country was ready so I was completely on board with this stop. Now we are in the line at McDonalds waiting to order and it finally hits me that I have never introduced myself nor has he. So I say “I didn’t catch your name”. This is the point that he politely looks at me and Says “Um, I’m Andy Mapple” Now this is about the time that I realize that I am a completely different world now and I have just been picked up by the guy that just had won the worlds. Needless to say he took it quite well and over the next several weeks he was quite helpful with showing me how to tune skis and was always polite and cordial. I always figured that If I had the chance I would remind him of this event and express my complete embarrassment.

[Butte-Ski]

Condolence's from Team Schillig.

Love and prayers to Deena and family. Waterskiing community. God Bless.

[Horton]

 

I did not now Mapple very well but any time our paths crossed I learned something and laughed a lot. I am sorry I did not know him better.

 

Above is when he found BallOfSpray stickers on his new prototype skis and when his boat driver (CP maybe) waited until Andy's dog just almost got to him before getting Andy up. I am pretty sure you had to be there but it was darn funny.

 

[thinlizzy]

I was both shocked and saddened to learn of Andrews death, having first met him when he was 13 and learning to trick ski on the river at Shard Bridge near Blackpool, UK. He was a member of the local water ski and power boat club, along with his parents Roy & Janet.

 

I followed his progress as much as possible and along with a couple of others produced the monthly club newsletter and it was rare for Andrew not to be mentioned in it.

 

I am still in contact with his parents some 39 years later and I know how proud of him they are, especially when he went to Buckingham Palace to collect his OBE.

 

You did a good job Andrew. God bless you and all your family.

 

Love to all especially Roy and Janet.

 

Joan. x

[chris55]

 

When I started skiing in 1987 in Geneva Switzerland, I did not know anything about waterski. Tehn I spent a year in Los Angeles in 1988 and I bought my first waterski magazine and I read about Andy Mapple and his technical advice. I was not even skiing on a mono yet. When I came back to Geneva I wanted to ski the best I could and learnt mono. I started slalom in 2000 for the first time but I followe Andy's career all the time through waterski mag and I always thaught "I want to ski on the best ski ever and I bought in 2002 the best ski ever "O'Brien Mapple". Then in 2003 my 2nd daughter arrived and waterski was gone until 2013. I took my old Mapple ski and started slalom again. At that time I email to Andy to have the right tune up just to be sure and of course Andy responded me to my email so nicely. My dream and my plan was to come to Orlando next spring to meet him and to get me the best ski ever of course. Sorry for that long story but just to say how strong the influence and his aura was to me. His inspiration still is and will continue to help me just to be not only a better skier but a better person. I never met him and I lliked him so much. To his wife and children all my prays and God bless you all.

Christian

 

[LeSkiAvantTout]

Talksport, the leading commercial sports radio channel here in the UK, gave Andy's achievements a mention yesterday lunchtime after fans contacted the presenter Colin Murray, (trying to get a link to post).

 

We don't produce many 6X world champions in any sport never mind one as demanding as slalom waterski.

[skiwoody]

@LeSkiAvantTout That's great news.

[usaski1]

this should be longer... Dunno what happened on the 1st one... Tech Fail!

[londonfan]

I met Andy on tournaments in the early 2000 but I can't say I knew him personally. All I can say is that since I was a 7yr old kid he was my Idole and thinking of his achievements helped me to achieve (althought not comparable) those of my own be it behind a boat during tournaments or in my day to day life. I will always remember the tie break against Wade Cox in Roquebrune in 1995 when he skied 4 @10.75 to secure the title. I was 10, I was there, he brought me joy. Reading all the tributes is a wonderful testimony of how great of a skier he was but most importantly how great of a man. I had so much admiration for him as a skier I can't imagine how proud his friends and familly must be to have shared great moments with him. I send my thoughts and prayers to Andy's familly to help them find the strengh to go through this difficult time.

[acmx]

What an awesome tribute by another icon of the sport! Thanks @usaski1 for posting, and thank you Kristy! Prayers to the Mapple family.

[richfoster]

Hey John, thanks for sharing. Those are now my favorite pics of Andy. He loved dogs. He liked a good prank and he looked so happy.

[dbressel]

I demoed an Obrien ski with Andy in the boat @ the 2000 Nationals in Bakersfield. Ran through 4 @ 35 off, and he could tell I was bummed I didn't make the pass. At the end he smiled and said "you know, that's 35 off"; with few words he made me feel that much better about myself. He went on to give me some great advise about my Gate, and made that year one of my best years I can remember. My thoughts go out to his loved ones.

[Wish]

@dbressel That reminds me of when I was skiing at his place testing his skis. Skied on mine first, he watched from the boat and as I was rounding 4 ball at 38 I got so excited that I was gonna run this infront of the Goat!! ...aaand splash..nope. Next up his ski. Same exact thing only this time I was even earlier into 4. Well this is it, gonna run it for sure!!! ..brain check... oh ya in front of the Goat!! ....and splash. On the way back to pick me up he was standing up smiling with the look of "really? how could you miss that?" Didn't have the courage to tell him it was the added pressure of skiing infront of the man we all idolize. All words not spoken by him or me of course but just his smile made me smile and laugh a little both knowing it was a run pass with a big choke. Was one of the best ski days of my life that will never be forgotten.

[Than_Bogan]

I didn't really know Andy, but I definitely feel the loss of a true icon of the sport. In a way, it feels like waterskiing itself has died.

 

I also want to point out the huge number of first-time posters in this thread. That just points even more to the positive influence Andy had on so many.

[Horton]

@Than_Bogan I had to upgrade my sever package Monday because of the news. The out pouring of emotion is hard to grasp. Below is a small indicator of Andy's impact on skiing.

 

[jetpilotg4]

As an avid and competitive water skier for well over 35 years of my life, today Ive turned 52 ... His age , and its a somber reminder how short and precious our lives are on this planet of ours. He now is in a place that knows not hate or discrimination.... and the water is always glass .... God Bless his family and friends he left behind !!! I skied often out at Mccormicks site it the late 80's , and one day after one of my sets, a group of guys come out to do some skiing there. Low and behold I got to watch Andy, Sammy , Carl , Mike Hazelwood , all ski that afternoon from the boat.... I must have shot three rolls of film ... if I find them ill be sure to post .... With the power we have as a group , wouldn't be great if we could put together a great tournament as a tribute to him and this great sport that we all are so passionate about ?

 

Happy Skiing to all !

[JeffSwain]

All of us are still in shock over losing our greatest champion. A few years ago our club hosted Andy for a day of coaching, and it was a wonderful experience. He was so nice and helpful to everyone, regardless of skiing ability. Especially glad now to have hung out with him on the lake. Here is a 5 min video I made back then ("Our Excellent Day With Andy"):https://vimeo.com/12097861

[MattP]

Video from @JeffSwain's post

 

[gregoryhcain]

Thank you for sharing your video with us; excellent, simply excellent!

[ForrestGump]

I surely regret never getting to ski with Andy. When he volunteered to fly to Houston to help us out with the ZO problem we were having with our promo boat, I didn't want to put him out so I told him to hold off. Later, Andy sent my ski partner some skis to try out and we were supposed to take 3 or 4 days and come ski with him but none of us could make the dates work out with my schedule, my friends schedule, and Andy's schedule. I once texted him and told him my partner had run 2@41 and then won M2 nationals and you could tell how sincerely happy he was for a kid from Florida who'd grown up, moved on, but kept that passion for skiing. You always think there's time.