Water Skiing

Micky Geller, a national champion water skier at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, died May 6 due to undisclosed causes.

He was 18.

"It is with great sadness that the University will lower the University flag to half-staff in memory of Michael Arthur 'Micky' Geller on Thursday, May 18," the university said in a statement. "His friends and family remain in the thoughts, hearts and prayers of many at the University."

Geller was one of the nation's top young water skiers and was also named to Canada's junior national water ski team.

"Micky was a valued member of both The Ragin' Cajuns Water Ski Team and Water Ski Canada," Louisiana-Lafayette's water ski team said in a statement. "His love for water skiing was evident in everything he did, from his training and competitions to his interactions with his teammates and coaches."

Geller competed on the national champion Ragin' Cajuns water ski team in 2022, helping the program bring home its ninth championship. His obituary read he had a "full-throttle approach to life" and was "just cracking the surface of the possibilities that lay ahead."

Sarah Teelow, a 20-year-old water-skiing champion, died on Monday due to spinal and head injuries suffered from a high-speed crash during a race a day earlier. 

According to the Los Angeles Times' Chuck Schilken, Teelow crashed during the Bridge-to-Bridge race on the Hawkesbury River in her home country of Australia. 

He provides further details:

The 20-year-old who recently won the formula 2 category at the World Waterski Racing Championships in Spain was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition with spinal and head injuries but died the next night.

The cause of the accident is unknown, but according to the Australian Associated Press, via the Guardian, said the sea was calm at the time and authorities are investigating the crash. 

The Daily Mail's Frank Thorne says the police are looking into a video, which shows another boat traveling in the opposite direction and creating a wake. 

Inspector David Hogg urged anyone with video of the race to come forward.  

As Ray Patterson—who witnessed the accident—told the Sydney Morning Herald, via Schilken's report, it was a freak occurrence:

''There is no rhyme or reason to it," Ray Patterson, who was in the boat observing Teelow, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's just an awkward fall. It's not dangerous. It's no more dangerous than playing football.''

Ski Racing NSW made the following statement: 

Sarah represents all that is good about our sport and its competitors and it is a great sadness to acknowledge that she will not be gracing our waters again.

A Beautiful girl and a great competitor, she will be sorely missed.

Per Sky News, via Yahoo! Sports UK, competitors can reach speeds of more than 80 mph during the race that goes from the mouth of the Hawkesbury River to Windsor. 

Teelow, who also suffered a high-speed water-skiing crash in 2008 where she broke her sternum and suffered other major injuries, is the seventh water skier in Australia to die as a result of an accident in the last five years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, per Schilken.    

As BBC pointed out, Ski Racing Australia once called the 20-year-old Teelow, who was a human movement student at the University of Technology in Sydney, "one of the sport's most accomplished young competitors."