Linz water ski aces separated for the first time

2023-08-18 04:11:01

This year they set new Austrian records in the trick competition, won two national championship titles each and spend a lot of time together: the Linz water ski aces Nici and Dominik Kuhn are not only siblings, but also a (sporting) conspired duo. “Our connection has become even better and more intense this year,” says the 23-year-old in an OÖN interview.

At the moment, the “little” brother is only in contact with his sister by phone, but practically every day. “Domi is starting at the U21 European Championships in Bordeaux and I’m training in Italy right now. It’s a new situation for both of us.”

It could also be seen as a little taste of what’s to come for the siblings. The 19-year-old is changing after Friday’s Under-21 Championship, where his sister believes he is capable of anything, but at the same time hopes that, given his successes in the general class this year, he won’t put too much pressure on himself to have to win medals. He moves to Louisiana in the USA, where he can study at college and get opportunities to get more involved with his sport.

See you in Florida

Nici admires her brother, wouldn’t have dared to leave home herself. The two will definitely see each other again in October when they start at the World Championships in Florida and close the season. “We’ll meet again there because Florida isn’t that far away from Louisiana,” says Nici Kuhn. For this year’s European Championships bronze medalist, the goal is the trick final of the twelve best female water skiers. At the last World Cup, the 23-year-old finished 16th.

The woman from Linz attributes the significant increase in performance in the trick competition to the intensive work of the past few years. She also sees herself on the right track in slalom. Due to a change of material, it felt like more progress was made this year, as she says. In any case, a lot of things are already going well in training in Italy and the medal at the European Championships gave Nici Kuhn additional motivation. After a time when she couldn’t perform as well as she is capable of, especially at major events, this was different at this year’s European Championship. “I got my full performance there,” she says. That could also be the case at the World Cup. And in October, the brother-sister team will work together again on sporting flights of fancy.