Swivel Girl is Listening

It was an exciting second half of the summer with Swivel Girl. I attended 3 tournaments as a vendor: WI State in Wisconsin Rapids,D II Nationals in Warsaw, IN and D I Nationals back in Wisconsin Rapids. First, I went to Wisconsin State Tournament which was held in Wisconsin Rapids on the third weekend in July. This was a 4 day event that involved individual competition on Thursday for Swivel, Doubles and Jump. During the course of the 4 days, 26 teams competed in Divisions I, II, and III. Talk about some great skiing! It amazes me every year how I watch team after team put on incredible ski shows. WI State includes some of the best teams in the country. Now as for Swivel Girl, the business, it was a real learning experience. One of the interesting patterns we learned is how to follow the shows and which teams are on the water. It took us a couple of shows to realize, the crowds showed up to the vendor tents between shows. It would be very quiet for an hour, then, the horn would sound 2 times and the Swivel Girl tent was busy. It was an exciting experience to have people shop at the tent. And yes, I did get a lot of feedback. A lot of individuals were interested in show skiing and water skiing merchandise. I had a few items, but now the fall items will focus more on water skiing rather than swiveling. And we are listening to the customer. Let us know what you are interested in seeing with Swivel Girl merchandise. We love to have the feedback. The customer is #1 with Swivel Girl. I had requests for t-shirts that would say, "Future Show Skier" for the younger kids. I also had requests for girls' barefoot t-shirts...You go girl! Board shorts were a popular request. And the tie-dye shirts were the most popular item. As a result, I am now carrying "Peace,Love and Barefootn'" in tie-dye.


Also, I did not realize, but there is definitely rivalry between swivelers and the male show skiers. My ski team has so many girls that swivel, that I just assumed all teams had a lot of swivel acts. This is the case for some teams,but not all. One of the best t-shirts I saw this summer was "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Swivel", ha,ha.

The best part of attending my first tournament as a vendor was looking out into the crowd and seeing those Swivel Girl tie-dye shirts, cover-ups, sunglasses and bags. Very Cool! Thank you to everyone that purchased SG products. It was important to know that the SG line was going to take off with the show ski community. The support was wonderful.

Swivel Girl is listening to the customer and we will continue to change the line of apparel and accessories as we get feedback from you.

Some new products for the 2008 Holiday shopping season include:

Tie-dye "Peace, Love and Barefootn'" shirts in adult and youth sizes
Cute vinyl bags with a Girls' Pyramid on them
Black Terrycloth skirts that say "Luv2ski"
Turquoise Cover-ups that say "Luv2ski"
Lined terry cloth bags that can be used as a cooler or for wet clothing
Swivel Stickers with swiveler images.

Check out swivelgirl.com for all the new fall items. New products will be listed in the next couple of weeks.

The Start of a Strange Summer

It looks like Swivel Girl is off to a good start, despite the beginning of the summer. The 2008 Summer will not be forgotten in the mid-west. I just experienced Wisconsin conditions, but did not get the worst of it, like Iowa.
June was going to be an exciting month for the new Swivel Girl business. My first 2 tournaments were planned for June. They did not happen. Mother Nature did not cooperate. During the month of June, it rained on South Central Wisconsin like I have never see it rain before. Storms would come into the State and hover over south central Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Dells area for hours. It was a disaster waiting to happen. And disaster is what happened. Lake Delton emptied in a matter of two and a half hours. Teams of volunteers from Tommy Bartlett sandbagged the dam for days. The lake was too much for the shoreline and it broke. Looking at the empty lake two weeks after Lake Delton emptied into the Wisconsin River, really put my issues about canceled tournaments on hold. Boats were stuck in the mud, houses had fallen from the shore into the lake, skiers were out of a job and tourism was definitely going to be affected. Other areas affected by the high waters were central Wisconsin lakes and in particular, The Rock River. At one point, the river was at least 10 feet over flood stage. Visiting Janesville, while the river was rising was incredible. We could not get down to the river front because of barricades, but we could see from a distance that the current was dangerously strong, unlike I have ever seen that river before. Needless to say, the high waters were devastating to many families and businesses. Not only did the water destroy property, but the contamination from bacteria left a serious issue for residents as well.

One other impact was the ski teams in central Wisconsin and Iowa. There were no practice sites for these teams. Being on a show ski team, that is really depressing. Thinking about skiing all winter and getting ready for the upcoming season and not being able to put on your ski show, hits a show skier the hardest. But, after talking to these team members that could not ski at their sites, I realized there is a lot of strength that comes from being on s a show ski team. Skiers did not "throw in the towel" for the season. Instead, these teams found a way to make it work. Janesville, Madison and so many other teams practiced at other team's sites. Many ski teams offered their sites. Impacted teams were able to keep it together and do what they do best, put on an awesome show at State and Nationals. Totally Amazing! Well, I hope this will be the "Strange Summer" to remember; one for the meteorologist record books. And I wish everyone the best that was afflicted with the flooding conditions. My prayers are with you all.

Pilates and the Benefits for Show Skiers

Now everyone has heard of Pilate's, but there is often a mystique behind this fitness movement. I consider Pilate's a strange combination of yoga and torture, just kidding. One of the main benefits behind Pilate's is the subtle movements and the ability to adjust the exercise to your needs and skills. Joseph Pilate's, a martial arts instructor, developed his rehabilitation program during the WW I era. He was detained in Germany and developed his method of exercises to help other detainees in the hospital for rehabilitation purposes. This is important to know because Pilate's does not involve fast movement, rather deliberate slow exercise. What amazes me about Pilate's is the slow and controlling movements really tone and strengthen the core muscles, which are important for any water skier. Pilate's is not just for women. Men would find the program extremely beneficial and challenging. This is why. Pilate's is a mind body workout. It is important to have an instructor that continuously talks you through the exercise. Each exercise involves controlling specific muscles and spine. Pilate's involves control of your body, along with breathing. For example, you may only do a total of 5 sit-ups during a 60 minute session of Pilate's exercises, but you will definitely feel your abdominal muscles the next day. Pilate's sit-ups are slow and deliberate, and 5 will be enough. When doing sit-ups, you focus on the transverse abdominal muscles through breathing and control each body part throughout the exercise. Sounds easy, it's not. The great benefits to Pilate's are strangely relaxation, great toning and most importantly, muscle and body control. Well, why is this important to a swivel skier? As you know, balancing on the ski and preforming a trick involves complete body control. You need to be able to adjust hips, legs, arms... in order to complete your trick. Because there are variables in water skiing: water, boat speed and movement, wind and who knows what else, the skier is always adjusting, whether you realize it or not. The skier is constantly changing the slightest hip movement, for example, to stay balanced on the ski. Knowing how to control these muscles would benefit any water enthusiast. If you get an opportunity, attend a Pilate's class at your fitness center or get a DVD from your local library. It's a perfect form of exercise for the skier. An added note, Pilate's takes practice. Learning to control your muscles and breathe right takes time. But the benefits will be worth it when you hit the water.

Getting in Shape for Ski Season

I would love to have some feedback and suggestions on what you do to get ready for water ski season.

Now that ski season is approaching for us northern skiers, it is time to think about warm weather, bathing suits and yes, water skiing, at last. Every year, it seems to get a little more difficult to haul your body out of the water, if you are 40 something. So I knew it was pay now and drop some weight or pay later and get frustrated because I was out of shape. I seriously started working out in January because I knew I would be water skiing at the end of March, in Florida of course. My training helped a lot. I felt pretty strong on the swivel ski. It is still difficult to replicate the muscles you use when skiing, so there's always a few sore muscle areas that you have not used when working out. I am going to share with you some of the exercises that worked for me.

First, weight is always an issue for me. So basic cardio exercises are the best for burning fat. Of course, diet is important, but not always easy for me. But, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio every other day. I usually use the tread mill, but it is good to alternate equipment. I use the bike and stair stepper too. It's good to use different muscles and give other muscles a rest. Now that the weather is getting nicer, even walks are a great way to burn calories and clear your mind.

One of the newer trends in exercise equipment is the bosu. This is half an inflated ball on a round base. What makes the bosu unique, is it allows you to work on balance, strengthen core and when doing abdominal or side crunches, it helps support your back.

I was concerned about balance, since I am not real "coordinated on land". I would start by balancing myself with one leg on the bosu. You may find that one leg is definitely stronger than the other. I would also do squats on the bosu. After I felt comfortable, I started working out with weights. Balancing yourself and doing bicep and tricep curls really fires your muscles without you realizing it. I would use lighter weights and do more repetitions, rather than heavier weights and fewer reps. I was more concerned about toning, rather than building muscles mass. Another exercise I did was having another person hold a band. The band is like a stretchy jump rope with 2 handles. I would do a lot of ski rope exercises on the bosu with the tension of the band. And of course, you can always tie your ski rope to a sturdy base and practice hand turns and other tricks with the ski rope. I really felt it helped when I got on the water for the first time in many months. My balance on the ski was much stronger than last year.

In case you are interested in purchasing a bosu, I got my bosu from Target for about 70.00. You can find them at most sporting good stores too. Well, I hope this motivated you to start working out or just reminded you that you had that bosu in the back of your closet somewhere. Have fun. Remember, "no pain, No gain." I am going to talk about Pilates next time. Core, Core Core!

Cypress Gardens and the All-American Ski Tournament

Cypress Gardens hosted the third annual All-American Show Ski Tournament over the weekend of March 29-30. The reason I was there was a girl from our team was skiing in the 14 and under 180 class. Well, if that weekend did not make you proud to be a show skier, I don't think you have a pulse. The small crowd of parents and friends watched and cheered from the stands for all the skiers. Whether you were doing 1080, like Cheryl Orloff , with no effort, or just doing a toe hold as your big trick, this was a great opportunity for all swivel skiers to get in front of a crowd and perform. What seemed to appeal to the judges was showmanship. If your act was neat, and you appealed to the crowd, that really was a winning factor to the judges.

Visiting Cypress is always a lot of fun. There is so much history to show skiing. We watched the ski show on and off through-out the weekend. What struck me while watching their show was the few skiers they have to put on the show. Every person is in at least 2 to 3 acts. They do all the standard acts without a lot of hoopla. The acts are clean and the show moves at a great pace. I'm sure many show ski teams are challenged with getting enough skiers. Our team has always struggled with guys. We have plenty of wonderful swivelers, but we need guys for so many of the acts. Cypress is a great inspiration. Small teams can pull off a great show and you don't need a lot of skiers. I think you just need to make it clean, simple and entertaining, if you are a small team. Showmanship goes a long way.

Congratulations to all skiers! What a great weekend!!!

Freestyle Jumping

• Erik Berglund

• Andrew Proses

• Pete Kuhlman

Open Doubles

• Lindsey Schmidt/Andrew Proses

• Lauren Henry/Nick Vickers

• Rebecca Rembert/Mike Tenda

Regular Doubles

• Samantha Hanabass/Dalton Blantin

• Darien Le Blanc/Brad Satterlee

• Michelle Mark/Clint Gordon

Open Swivel

• Cheryl Orloff

• Rebecca Rembert

• Anne Phillip

360 Swivel

• Katrina Sawaska

• Jacklyn Kumlien

• Erica Johnston

Swivel – 15 & over

• Christina Maglione

Swivel 14 & under

• Stephanie Peters

• Kristin Hannabass

• Tori Johnston

Bonifay Ski School

I just spent a week in the Winter Haven Florida area. If you have not been and you like show skiing, this is the place to be, whether it is slalom, show skiing, bare footing or wake boarding. There are a lot of great water sport teachers and schools in the area. Everyone should make the time to visit the area. It's like paying homage to the birth place of show skiing.

Just got back from a week with Betty Bonifay. This is the third year I have been there. It is not only a memorable experience being with a swivel ski legend that helped develop most of the swivel tricks we use today, it's also a great learning experience. Betty is a wealth of knowledge. She breaks down every element of a trick. She knows how to help you make the slightest change in your position on the ski to help you learn or smooth out your tricks and movements. What's always interesting is watching your video tape after a set. You can see what she was explaining to you on the water and then try to work out the kinks on land.

What was really cool was the helmet you wear while skiing. She can talk you through what ever you are doing on the water. Most importantly, she is very positive and encourages you through all the falling and frustration. The helmet microphones save so much time and allow you to correct while skiing, saving a lot of falls too. Thanks Betty for the great week. My girls and I came back psyched for the ski season. Too bad it's two long months away.

Swivel Girl is 'born' at Think Tank 2008

Swivel Girl is launched! Our first show was Think Tank 2008 in the Dells, and we met a lot of great people and had fun showing our new line to the ski team community.

We had a chance to participate in the fashion show, which was really exciting. I was also able to add 2 great gals to the Swivel Girl Team: Deb and Sandie (shown enjoying trying on our sunglasses). I look forward to meeting even more Swivel Girls throughout the summer. With Swivel Girl you can Unlock the Possibilities!