By John Gregg
 Destin, FL.-The little girl who used to charm her friends and family when she first put on water skies at age 2 ½ back home in Georgia is growing up. Those long afternoons spent gliding on the green water of Snake Lake still glisten in the memory of her mother and father.
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 At 16, Regina Jaquess is a combination of grace, athleticism, and a smile that could melt the moon. She has also become, in a short period of time, one of the top young women skiers in the US and perhaps this country's best shot at winning a medal in Water Skiing if the International Olympic Committee finally includes her sport in the 2004 Games in Athens. |
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 Jaquess' accomplishments at such a tender age are rather staggering. She captured 4 Gold Medals at the Junior Olympic Championships, set a US National Girls 3 Slalom Record-3@38' at the US Team Trials, and won 3 Gold and one Silver at the America's Challenge. In the last several weeks she captured third place in Women's Trick event at the US Open in Sacramento, and finished second in the Women's Overall to Brandi Hunt.
It should be pointed out the Miss Hunt is 21 and that Regina, who just turned 16 in June, is getting ready to enter her Junior year of High School. That said, Jaquess finished just 10.5 points behind the eventual winner Hunt. |
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| "My parents, my sister, and my parents' friends all use to like to go out to the lake and ski," Jaquess explained. "I first put on skis around two and I just loved it. It was great fun and by the time I was 5, I was competing."
Jaquess first made a name for herself in her home state of Georgia by winning the Girls 1 Slalom, Trick, and Overall, followed by the Girls 2 Slalom, Trick, Jump, and Overall, and then the Girls 3 Slalom, Trick, Jump, and of course the Overall. You get the picture, if you were a female water skier in Georgia, the battle was to see who finished second. It was a pretty good bet that Miss Jaquess had already locked up the top spot. |
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 Jaquess went on to capture three Southern Regional titles in the Slalom event. Along the way the talented young skier also set national records for her slalom expertise. At age seven she was cute, by nine the word amazing started to surface, and by eleven, well, by 11, she seemed unbeatable. During an astounding 2-½ year time span, Jaquess set 23 United States national records.
However, the 16-year-old isn't much different than most teenagers. She just got her driver's license and her first car on her birthday. In the fall when she returns to Freeport High School, in Duluth, Georgia, Regina will be the starting point guard on the Girl's Basketball team. Despite the acclaim for her skiing ability and the fact that she has competed in France, Mexico, and Canada, Jaquess takes a low-key approach to her success on the water.
"My close friends realize that I have a different life." Jaquess concedes. "But it just doesn't get in the way. A lot of people in High School don't even know that I ski." |
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| The talented athlete closed out 1999 with a number of accomplishments: Jaquess ended up being ranked #1 in the World Junior Slalom Standings, and ranked #1 in the World Junior Jump Standings. Just to prove she isn't totally perfect, Regina was ranked #2 in the World Junior Trick Standings. To cap things off, Jaquess also was the 1999 National Champion - Overall, Trick, Slalom and Jump and the 1999 Junior Olympic Slalom, Trick, Jump and Overall Champion. Just to prove she also has talent on terra firma, she was also named as her basketball team's Defensive MVP. |
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 The big goal for Jaquess remains the Olympics. Water Skiing is the orphan sport of the International Committee, and the guys with blue blazers and large expense accounts. These are the same gentlemen that have included such epic struggles as Ballroom Dancing, Tug-Of-War, and the always-popular Synchronized Swimming. Water Skiing remains on the agenda as a possible new sport to be added to the Greek Games in four years.
"I want to be able to go to the 2004 Olympics," Jaquess confessed. "I've always dreamed of winning a Gold Medal…ever since I was a little girl"
For now, Jaquess must be content with being one of the top young female water skiers in the United States. Once again this summer she has excelled on the water. The journey from first learning how to jump the wake on Snake Lake to hopefully standing atop the Medalist platform in Athens seems distant. However, it is difficult not to pull for an athlete who is so passionate about her sport and her dreams. |
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