Glenn Goelen At Start Of

2008 Waterski Championship

June 6th, 2008

Article By IPA Member: Guy Verstraeten
Guy594 Photography

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Glenn Goelen had an outstanding season last year, with a total of 4,997.35 points and several victories, he became Belgian Champion 2007 in the Junior class.
We had a short look how the new season has started for Glenn.

Here’s a brief look how the new season has started for Glenn.
In the F2 class, everything is becoming fairer. No huge differences anymore compared to last year where a skier could create a great advantage using a twin-engine boat while others and less fortunate competitors had to race with a single- engine boat.

Nevertheless, even with a single-engine boat, Glenn became Junior Champion in 2007. This could also be accredited to the good handling of the boat by pilot Reggy Goelen and co-pilot Michel Borremans.

After 4 races, Glenn is now in the 5th place in the overall standing. The competitors are better than last year, and naturally the 2007 champion is always under pressure to have a good performance in the beginning of the new season.

In the first and second races in Beringen, Glenn finished 3rd and had stage citations on both days, a good start of the 2008 season.

Round 3 in Genk was tough because of the wild water which the boats created. The water hit the concrete walls of the “Albert canal” and bounced back, creating a rough current that turned the canal just like a wild water river. Struggling against these wild water conditions, Glenn finished 5th place that day.

Then in Grobbendonk at round 4, a race that should have been a routine job for Glenn, knowing all the water conditions in this canal, turned out into an accident. In a bad turn, Glenn fell down and hit his head on his ski, the race then was automatically over for him.

Round 5 of the Championship was last Sunday (the 1st of June) in Kruibeke. It was held at the “De Schelde” river. The conditions are very different than the canals because of the tide and the current of the water. Glenn seems to have forgotten his accident in Grobbendonk but in the back of his head, the fall has left something behind and this had an effect on the end result, 5th place in the F2 ranking.

The next race in the calendar is the famous “Viersel Diamond Race” with many international competitors. We look forward how Glenn will perform in the coming races and if he will retain the title this year.