{"id":415529,"date":"2026-01-15T22:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415529\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T22:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:16:25","slug":"investigation-proposes-ban-that-could-see-high-speed-waterski-racing-leave-murray-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415529\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigation proposes ban that could see high-speed waterski racing leave Murray River"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two independent investigators have called for high-speed waterski racing on river courses to be permanently scrapped.<\/p>\n

New South Wales Maritime has released the findings of a lengthy safety investigation, triggered by the deaths of four waterskiers in 2024.<\/p>\n

Eight recommendations have since been provided to Transport for NSW regarding the future of competitive waterskiing.<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/p>\n

Ski racing equipment has been largely unused while the safety investigation took place. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

Risks of the sport<\/p>\n

The report reviewed all waterskiing-related incidents on NSW waters \u2014 including the Murray River \u2014 since 2006, including 13 deaths and 116 serious injuries.<\/p>\n

The sport has been temporarily halted nationally since the review was announced.<\/p>\n

Twelve of the 13 fatalities happened on rivers, where competitors race from point to point, and each fall occurred at speeds of 125 kilometres per hour or greater.<\/p>\n

Top competitors can reach speeds of up to 190km\/h.<\/p>\n

The scope of the investigation included speed, waterway and course types, race classes, types of injuries and the adequacy of personal protective equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The data did not show why skiers fell, or in which class of race skiers were participating in at the time of a fall.<\/p>\n

\"13<\/p>\n

The investigation began in October 2024 and proposes banning river racing events. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

Key findings<\/p>\n

The findings revealed a significant under-reporting of serious injury incidents to the regulator.<\/p>\n

Traumatic brain injuries, cervical spine injuries and head injuries were the top three causes of waterskier deaths.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The safety investigation questioned the effectiveness of helmets and life jackets. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

Investigators ruled that fatal and serious injuries were unlikely to be minimised by proposed improvements to personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n

The report found life jackets used in the sport were not fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

It also said waterskier helmets were not designed to any particular standard.<\/p>\n

Balancing risk<\/p>\n

Investigators found there was a link between river courses and fatalities and acknowledged competitors were attracted to the high-risk nature of the sport.<\/p>\n

\"Ski<\/p>\n

Events like the Mildura 100 routinely attracts more than 150 teams each year. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

The report recommended 110km\/h should be the speed limit for lake or circuit courses, while ski races on river courses should be banned.<\/p>\n

Rivers were seen to pose additional hazards, such as debris and riverbanks, and these risks could not be mitigated by a speed reduction alone.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

It is unclear if competitive ski racing will make a return to NSW rivers. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

No solace in recommendations<\/p>\n

Former competitive waterskier Leo Welch, whose son died from a fall at a Robinvale event in 2015, said he took no solace in the safety recommendations.<\/p>\n

“We were clearly heavily involved and certainly saw the highs and lows within the sport, but we were involved in it because of the love of the sport,” Mr Welch said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Former competitive waterskier Leo Welch wants river racing to continue. (Supplied: Leo Welch)<\/p>\n

“I think just a blanket ban is extremely disappointing.<\/p>\n

“People that invested so heavily into the sport as well with their equipment, they’re going to have to go elsewhere or find other avenues with which to use that equipment.”\"Two<\/p>\n

Leo Welch (left) has retired from competitive ski racing. (Supplied: Leo Welch)<\/p>\n

Mr Welch said that would be a devastating blow to river communities that hosted popular events at Echuca Moama, Robinvale Euston, and Mildura.<\/p>\n

“I just can’t see the sport going anywhere at 110 kilometres an hour in a lake,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a recommendation, it’s not set in stone, so I think there needs to be a big pushback against that.”<\/p>\n

Comparison and analysis<\/p>\n

Moama Water Sports Club president Steve Shipp said keeping competitive skiers out of the water during the safety investigation had cost communities millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

“The recommendations are made to keep everyone 110 per cent safe, but we’re never going to be 110 per cent safe,” Mr Shipp said.<\/p>\n

He took issue with investigators choosing not to speak with clubs about the fatalities.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Traumatic brain injuries, cervical spine injuries and head injuries were the top three causes of waterskier deaths. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

“They investigated the deaths on the Murray River at Echuca Moama \u2026 the people doing the investigation didn’t contact me to have a discussion,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They just focused on, ‘We’ve got the coroner’s report \u2014 this is what someone died from’ … it didn’t delve into causes, and look at what’s been done to alleviate them in the future.”<\/p>\n

Mr Shipp said the report failed to look at wider issues, including how the risks of other sports compared.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Every waterskier death since 2006 has happened in NSW waters, with 12 of the 13 on rivers. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club)<\/p>\n

“You look at the Sydney to Hobart [yacht] race. How many people have died in that or injured, and what the millions of dollar cost is for rescues?” he said.<\/p>\n

“Maritime’s not doing a report into that, saying, ‘No, you can’t do that because it’s dangerous.'”<\/p>\n

Clubs exploring options<\/p>\n

The report did specify circuit or lake courses could be held on a wide expanse of river.<\/p>\n

Mildura Ski Club president Brandan McGlynn said there was still hope for racing to return to Mildura, abiding by the recommendations.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brandan McGlynn says their club is exploring options to remain viable. (Supplied: Brandan McGlynn)<\/p>\n

“We’ve just got to workshop how we make it viable to come back to the racing, and make it viable for the sanctioning body, and make it viable for members,” Mr McGlynn said.<\/p>\n

“From a club level, it’s been a pretty big impact economically on the club, but also what the club brings to the town.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The report recommends a ban on river racing. (Supplied: Admedia Australia\/Mildura Ski Club\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Ski Racing Australia consultant Geoff Thomson described the safety review’s findings as “reasonably fair”.<\/p>\n

“It’s the responsibility of the sport now to make the sport safe,” Mr Thomson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two independent investigators have called for high-speed waterski racing on river courses to be permanently scrapped. New South…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,17652,157691,16863,219294,198587,85,198582,198581,219295],"class_list":["post-415529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ban","tag-nsw-maritime","tag-safety","tag-ski-racing","tag-ski-racing-australia","tag-sports","tag-water-ski-racing","tag-water-skiing","tag-waterski-racing-investigation-recommendations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}