POLK CITY, Fla. — The 2003 Ski Flying National Championships will be held Sept. 27-28 in Auburndale, Fla. Athletes in 10 age divisions, plus Open Men and Women, will compete for individual and team titles. The fourth annual event will be held on Lake Tennessee, the home site of Scot Ellis, the three-time defending Open Men ski flying national champion and No. 4-ranked Men's jumper in the world.

"We are looking forward to bringing the Ski Flying Nationals back to central Florida for the second consecutive year," said Steve McDermeit, USA Water Ski's executive director. "This high-intensity, action-packed event is perfect for the thrill-seeking spectator, and as we all know, central Florida has its share of thrill-seeking spectators."

The 2003 Ski Flying National Championships will feature two rounds — a preliminary round and a final round. Preliminary round seeding will be based on the USA Water Ski-maintained Ski Flying Rankings list, which includes the results from all USA Water Ski-sanctioned ski flying tournaments (any class) between Sept. 12, 2002 and Sept. 22, 2003. A minimum of five U.S. athletes will qualify for the finals in each division. Medals will be awarded to the top-three participants based on the longest jump in the final round.

Any U.S. ski flyer who achieves the qualifying distance as stated in the American Water Ski Association's Rulebook in their division (Boys 3, Girls 3, Men 1-4, Women 1-4, Open Men or Open Women) is qualified to compete at the 2003 Ski Flying National Championships. Qualifying international athletes will also be invited to participate; however they will not be eligible for placement or national championships medals. All participating skiers are also invited to take part in the team competition.

Ski flying is a modified form of traditional jumping that produces greater distances than traditional jumping. The current ski flying world record is 299 feet, held by Canada's Jaret Llewellyn. The boat speed for ski flying is 5 mph faster than that of each division's maximum traditional jumping speed. Instead of a 75-foot rope, ski fly athletes can use a rope as long as 90 feet that is attached to a pylon with an 18-inch extension. The most significant change regards the height and length to the ramp. The traditional jumping ramp is lowered from 6 feet to 5 feet, 10 inches, and extended nearly 2-1/2 feet to 24 feet, 6 inches.