Landen Letwin is working at TBRHSC as a rehab assistant while he waits to complete his registration exams as a registered physical therapist. Landen just competed for Team Canada at the World Water Ski Show Tournament in Florida.
(article as seen on TBnewswatch.com)
THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay is known for producing NHL-calibre hockey players, but not so much for being the home of world-class water skiers.
Landen Letwin is out to change that.
The 27-year-old competed for Team Canada at the World Water Ski Show Tournament which wound up Sunday in Winter Haven, Florida.
The Canadian team was on course to finish as high as second, but wound up being edged out of the medals by the narrowest of margins, finishing fourth.
In the two other events he participated in, Canada earned a medal.
The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“Countries from around the world take their best water ski show skiers. There’s 35 people on a team. You do one show on Saturday and one on Sunday, and they take your best score,” Letwin said in an interview Monday.
He said it’s fun to compete in front of huge crowds such as the ones that attended the show in Winter Haven.
“We skied an amazing show…Just to represent your country, it’s a really cool feeling and an amazing experience. And seeing the best skiers in the world compete against each other is really special.”
Letwin joined Team Canada in 2016, shortly after returning to Thunder Bay from Wisconsin where his family moved when he was two months old.
He began waterskiing at the age of five, and by eight years old was already skiing barefoot.
When he was 14, a local water ski team invited him to join them, but he was playing baseball and soccer at the time and thought he was too busy.
His changed his mind, though, after attending team practice, and wound up quitting the other sports instead.
Letwin said his barefoot skiing skills are what got him a spot on the national team in the first place.
“In the show I do barefooting, sky skiing which is like hydrofoil, and jumping — with flips over the jump. We do a barefoot pyramid at the beginning, and then I do backwards barefoot circles around the show course.”
After moving back to Thunder Bay at the age of 20, he was quickly accepted as a member of Team Canada, and subsequently turned professional.
That’s taken him to competitions around the globe.
Here at home, though, he’s helping local youth develop their expertise on water skis.
This summer Letwin operated water ski schools at Loon Lake and Shebandowan Lake, and he aims to start a water ski team as well.
At the same time, he’s embarking on a full-time career in the health care field.
The physiotherapy graduate is waiting to write his licensing exam, and currently works at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre as a rehab assistant.