A Barefoot Legend
Mike
Seipel has been a legend in the realm of barefoot water skiing since he
and his brother, John, learned to barefoot at ages 10 and 11 in their
hometown of Lake Dousman, Wis.
Seipel, already a champion three-event (slalom, tricks and
jumping) competitor in the Boys division, soon became famous with his
brother performing as the "World's Youngest Barefooters" in the Water
Bugs Ski Show in Milwaukee.
By age
15, Seipel was dominating regional barefoot competition and decided to
quit three-event skiing to concentrate solely on his new passion. In
1978, he qualified for his first Barefoot National Championships, held
in Waco, Texas. Seipel
surprised even himself by placing second in the tournament. His
performance also earned him an invitation to join the U.S. Barefoot
Water Ski team that would travel to Australia for the first World
Barefoot Championships later that same year.
Seipel
didn't win any medals at his first Worlds, but he launched a sports
career that would eventually earn him 11 National titles, six World
titles and nine World records.
He skied on eight U.S. Barefoot Water Ski Teams and has since
trained numerous National and World champions at his Barefoot
International Ski School.
Seipel
founded Barefoot International, one of the first training centers for
barefoot water skiers, in 1980.
The first location was in Wisconsin, and by 1982, the business
had grown enough to incorporate.
Seipel opened a new site in Pompano Beach, Fla., and later that
year moved the business to West Palm Beach.
In 1983,
Seipel began manufacturing the barefoot boom that was his trademark way
of introducing skiers to the sport. Although a version of the boom had
been used by skiers in the past, the Seipels were the first to design a
unit that fit all towboats and was also cosmetically appealing.
The
brothers placed an ad in The Water Skier magazine.
There was only one problem – the booms were not yet made. The
calls started coming in, and John began the manufacturing process at a
machine shop in Milwaukee while Mike handled the marketing.
Soon, the
business was growing and the brothers began making and selling other
barefoot accessories, such as sportswear, wetsuits, ropes and handles.
Seipel
continued to be an innovator throughout his career as a barefooter. In
1988, he decided to give up slalom and tricks and specialize in jumping,
which was his strongest event.
One day
during training, he went out the front while going over the jump. Later,
he thought he could learn to pull out of a bad jump by relaxing, letting
his feet fall behind him and then bringing them back beneath him. He
tried it until he eventually skied one away. As he got better, Seipel
noticed that the technique added distance to his jumps. The inverted
method of barefoot jumping was born.
When
Seipel began using his new technique in competition, he was unstoppable.
At the 1990 Worlds, barefooters from around the globe were exposed to
inverted jumping, and it eventually became the preferred method of top
competitors.
