In the News
November 19th 2014

World Endurance Record - 36th anniversary!
November 19, 2016

Today marks the 36th Anniversary of the Longest Standing Barefoot Waterski Record of all time.

The World Barefoot Endurance Record has stood the test of time and continues to be unchallenged. On November 19, 1988 Billy Nichols of Ocala Florida at the age of 14 skied barefoot for 2 Hours, 42 Minutes and 39 Seconds!

The well planned and trained for assault on the record took place on Lake Weir near Belleview Florida. The boat crew consisted of Billy's Dad Perry behind the wheel accompanied by AWSA Senior Judge Elmer Stailing and judge Tony Law. Billy was towed by his Dad's Glastron CV 16 powered by a 150HP Merc. Four stopwatches were used to time the run with the record time being the average of all four.

The previous record was set by Paul McManus of Australia. The time to beat was originally thought to be 2 hours 37 minutes. It was later discovered that the McManus record was actually 1 hour and 37 minutes. Billy surpassed the record by over an hour!

A complete archive of the record will be added to our History and our Current Records web pages in the very near future. We apologize to Billy for not acknowledging this unbelievable feet as part of the IWWF World Barefoot Council Official Records on our website prior to this 36th anniversary.

Billy still lives in Ocala Florida and still gets out on his feet whenever he has “some time”. Off the water Billy runs a successful Waterski Boat dealership "Ski Boat Solutions" along with a Water Ski & Surf Shop.

For more information on this and other incredible barefoot waterskiing “feets” check out www.WorldBarefootCouncil.com


Last Updated: November 19th 2014

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