Man on Mission: Bizzack Returns for Pro Skiing on the Bay

The first time Jeff Bizzack water-skied on Mission Bay was 23 years ago.

“I was 6, and my father took me around Mission Bay on his shoulders,” Bizzack said. “I don’t think my dad ever imagined that it would turn into this.”

What it has become is an obsession, a way of life and a professional career.

And this weekend, Bizzack’s career will take him back to where it all began--Mission Bay--when he competes, along with some 70 others, for $50,000 in prize money at the Michelob Dry Water Ski Tour event at Fiesta Island’s Enchanted Cove on Mission Bay.

Beginning today at 9 a.m., Bizzack will compete in his specialty--the men’s slalom--during the opening round. Preliminary competition continues Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and the finals are scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

To say that Bizzack will have a home-water advantage is an understatement. We’re talking about a guy who cut classes at University High School in San Diego so he wouldn’t miss prime skiing time. Then, when he went to the University of San Diego, he found time to ski between classes.

“Everyone always remembered me as the guy who would show up at school with his truck and his boat behind it,” Bizzack said.

While at USD, Bizzack competed on the water-ski team. But after a couple years, Bizzack took his skis to San Francisco State, from which he graduated with a business degree.

From there Bizzack took his knowledge of skiing to Hawaii, where he opened a water-skiing school. But after three years of losing money, Bizzack decided he could make a better living on the newly formed professional ski tour.

Four years later, Bizzack is not exactly making six figures from skiing, but along with his job as district sales manager for a computer software company, he is living quite comfortably--so comfortably that he is able to water-ski on Discovery Bay, near San Francisco, every night for four hours.

And how committed is Bizzack to training?

“Anyone who skis in freezing weather conditions in February, where they have to chip the ice off the boat, has to be pretty committed,” Bizzack said.

Bizzack said there are some on the pro tour, which has existed for six years, who actually ski full-time.

“The top money-leaders can make over $100,000, because some guys have as many as a dozen sponsors,” said Drew Townes, tour director. “The prize money is going up each year. One of the good things about the sport is most of the guys are good-looking, exuberant and fairly well-educated. The sport is visually appealing, so it’s very marketable.”

“Those are the guys that eat and breathe water-skiing,” Bizzack said.

One of those guys, Andy Mapple of Orlando, Fla., is expected to compete against Bizzack this weekend in the men’s slalom. Bizzack realizes that no matter how familiar the waters of Mission Bay are to him, he is a notch below someone such as Mapple.

“Knowing the water conditions, having your family and friends there for you, makes you relax and that much more confident, but these skiers on the tour are awesome,” Bizzack said. “I realized that I cannot compete on the same level as them. My goal for this weekend is just to make it to Saturday’s final eight.”

Bizzack’s event is set up much like a snow-skiing slalom event, but on the water, there is a 16-second time limit. A skier must negotiate as many gates and buoys on one ski as possible in that time. And each time the skier goes through the gates, the difficulty is increased by shortening the boat’s tow rope. In some instances, skiers are traveling at speeds of 60 m.p.h.

Although he has done some water-ski jumping, Bizzack said he chose the slalom because of his frame.

“I don’t have the body mass to take the pounding on the knees that most jumpers have,” he said. “It’s your ankles that take a pounding in slalom skiing.

“The thing that’s important in slalom skiing is the ability to take coordination and agility and to be able to know exactly where your ski is going.”

And Bizzack has known for quite a while where his ski is going--in the water.

“Once you have that bug, you can’t give it up,” he said. “This sport is very much like an addiction.”

Notes

This weekend’s event is the second of eight tour stops, with the championships scheduled for Vallejo on Sept. 7-9. ESPN will telecast all eight stops. The San Diego event will air on June 18. . . . Skiers from 10 countries, including a team of Soviets, will be competing this weekend in six divisions: men’s and women’s slalom, men’s and women’s ski-jumping, freestyle and kneeboarding. Tickets for Friday’s challenge round competition are free. Saturday’s and Sunday’s tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children 7-12.