The 2026 IWWF World Barefoot Water Ski Championships returned to Auburndale, Florida, bringing the sport's three disciplines — slalom, tricks and jumping — together for individual, overall and team medals.
A new lake hosts the combined world titles
The championships ran from 17 to 24 October 2026 on the newly built Champions Lake at Lake Myrtle. It was the first IWWF world-titled event held on that water. The meeting combined the Open, U23 and Junior world championships in a single programme.
The Open Men field drew David Small, the 42-year-old from Birmingham, a 19-time Open world champion with his first title in 2002 and his most recent in 2018. He holds world records in barefoot jumping and tricks, and has lived in Florida since 2007, where he coaches at the World Barefoot Center. He entered all three Open Men events, among seven Great Britain athletes in Florida.
A season of broken records before Auburndale
Noah Kinnaman, born in 2007 and listed from Lake St. Louis, Missouri, spent 2026 resetting the sport's young marks. About a month before the Southern Regionals he broke the Under 23 men's slalom world record with a score of 17.4. At those Southern Regionals in Auburndale in June, he skied slalom runs of 18.8 and 18.45.
At the same meeting he posted a pending Under 23 tricks record of 13,000 points, against a standing mark of 8,750. The score made him the fifth skier ever to trick over 13,000 points.
The run built on a strong 2024. At that year's world championships Kinnaman won the elite men's tricks gold with 11,300 points, swept the junior boys' slalom, tricks and jump titles, and was listed at 21.2 metres in the Open Men jump. He had also taken the Open Pro Men's tricks at the 2024 South East Regional with 10,850 points, ahead of Brett Swanbom on 10,550.
The world championships returned to American water for another test of that young form.
