Wayne Reece was a National Champion Boys Competitor, and Boys Jump Record holder. He grew up on Lake Virginia in Winter Park Florida where he was a local athletic celebrity. Wayne was also a stand-out football player at Winter Park High School. Wayne suffered a fatal heart attack at age 38. He was coached by Liz Allan - Reid and Jack Travers and trained with the some of the best professional skiers of the day.

Wayne, Terry Snow, and Hugh Petersen, mark Crone and I skied many an hour on Lakes Virginia and Sue in Winter Park. Wayne also secured a private ski site in Windermere Florida where he trained with the likes of Sammy Duvall and Jeff Carrington, both former World Champions.

Wayne was an accomplished slalom and trick skier, but excelled in Jumping. He was the first to break Wayne Grimditch’s long held boys jump record with a leap of 136 feet at the 1975 Southern Regionals where he won both slalom and jump events. He followed those wins with a 1st place Slalom and Jump finishes in the 1975 Water Ski Nationals and Overall at age 15. Wayne continued to improve his skills and competed in several professional events until a devastating jump crash at the California Cup inflicted significant and debilitating injury to his knee.

Wayne is survived by his brother, Brian who assumed leadership Wayne’s forklift and storage business he started in 1987 and his parents, Phil and Diane of Winter Park. Brian still resides on Lake Virginia where we grew up. Wayne Reece was my friend, confidant and skiing partner for many years.