The 41-year-old Tacoma resident is competing in this week’s World Barefoot Water Ski Championships in the small town of Adna near Chehalis, and she has paid her dues in becoming one of the best in her sport.

“You are going 44 mph and trying to relax while teetering on the edge of disaster,” Cederstrand said. “You need strength, agility and flexibility. … It’s like dropping in 15 feet before a (snow) ski run. It’s a huge rush.”

Cederstrand learned the art of skiing on her bare feet at Washington State University and has won national championships. She is still ranked among the top 30 female slalom racers in the world.

Lake Silverado, a 7-foot-deep, 2,700-foot-long private lake for barefooters, is hosting the world championships for juniors, seniors and elite athletes. More than 160 competitors from 13 countries will participate, with U.S. and Australia teams favored to win.

Competitors will slalom on one leg, jump off a ramp and do tricks such as holding the rope with their foot – all without the added support of skis.

Most can learn this sport in a few hours, but it takes much longer to do it gracefully.

IT TAKES A TOLL

If you think barefooting looks like a good way to get hurt, you’re right.

“If I’m walking around like Muhammad Ali when I’m 80, I’ll know what caused it,” Brian Heeney said.

One false move can result in getting the wind knocked out of you.

The most common serious injury is shoulder damage caused by holding on to the rope too long after a fall. Participants also sometimes injure their backs by falling in such a manner that they almost fold in half, their feet nearly hitting the back of their heads. If you don’t point your toes up, you could also break a toe. To decrease the risk of injury, experts recommend letting go of the rope as soon as you start to fall. They also suggest avoiding waves and high-traffic areas.

“All it takes is one wakeboarder or Jet Skier to blow it for barefooters,” said Doug Jordan, co-owner of Adna’s Lake Silverado.

As barefooters learn, it’s common to get blisters, but their feet eventually callous.

WHERE TO LEARN

 • Koppert Lake in Toledo offers barefoot instruction. You can have up to five lessons in a day. Two lessons are $80, three are $100 and five go for $150. Koppert also offers five-day camps (25 lessons, lodging and food) for $700. Call 360-864-4137.

 • Lake Silverado offers occasional barefoot clinics and lessons. For more information, e-mail Doug Jordan at Douglassjordan@comcast.net or visit barefootworlds.com. There is no charge for lessons, but students are asked to help pay for fuel.

YOU DON’T NEED SKIS, BUT …

If you think barefooting is cheaper than waterskiing because you don’t need to buy skis, think again. The sport can be more expensive. You’ll need a barefoot wetsuit ($150). This padded wetsuit provides much-needed padding for the punishment you’re about to take and acts as a flotation device. Many maneuvers can’t be performed while wearing a lifejacket. Padded shorts ($50) are also suggested, as are athletic cups ($10) for men. A good barefoot boat has a stronger engine (400 horsepower compared to 250) than a ski boat and consumes half again as much fuel. WET FOOT MATH

No, barefooters don’t take their shoes off so they have more digits to count with, but they do quite a bit of math. When he’s driving boats in the states, Australia’s Pete O’Neill uses his cell phone’s calculator to convert kilometers per hour to miles per hour.

Barefooters need to go faster than water-skiers to get up. The basic formula: Your body weight divided by 10 plus 20 mph. So a 180-pound barefooter would need to go at least 38 mph, but they often choose to go faster.

THREE DISCIPLINES

1. SLALOM

Competitors take two 15-second runs. Skiers face forward on the first run, slaloming back and forth across the wake on one foot, switching feet on each pass. They receive one point for each time they cross the wake. If they step out of the wake they lose half a point. The second run is similar, but this time competitors start backward and face down in the water and must go backward for the entire run. The winner is the one with the most points.

2. TRICKS

Competitors have two 15-second runs to perform as many tricks as possible. Each trick has a point value ranging from 40 points for waving with each hand to 1,000 points or more for stunts such as a flip or holding the rope with a foot rather than your hand. The most points wins.

3. JUMP

Competitors launch off a floating fiberglass ramp at speeds in excess of 40 mph using one of two techniques. With the “traditional” technique, competitors kick their legs in front of them, land on their butts, then must stand up again for a successful jump.

“Inverted” jumping is more dramatic and covers more lake. Jumpers kick their legs behind them and fly through the air Superman style. At the last second, they pull their legs under them and land like traditional jumpers. The winner is the one who jumps farthest. The world record of 95 feet is expected to fall this weekend.

BAREFOOT Q&A

Do you need to know how to water-ski to go barefoot?

“It’s better if you water-ski or snowboard, but it’s not mandatory,” said Doug Jordan, Lake Silverado’s co-owner. “You should be fairly active and fit.”

Cederstrand says barefooting is more similar to alpine skiing than water-skiing.

Do you need a private lake or special boat?

You can learn on any lake with any ski boat, but it could make the experience more challenging.

Barefoot boats have flatter hulls than ski boats and are adapted with a rear plate to prevent a rooster tail and less of a wake.

“Water-skiers don’t mind rooster tails, but if we see that, we run the other direction,” said Canadian national champion Paul MacDonald.

Jordan says private ski lakes like Silverado are best for learning because you don’t have to worry about water traffic and choppy water. There are 35 private lakes in Washington, including one near Orting, and 16 are on the Interstate 5 corridor. A similar lake in Toledo, Koppert Lake, is open to the public.

Is there a special device to help learn?

The best way to learn is by using a boom. The boom allows students to sit on a swing beside the boat to get used to the feeling of skiing on your feet without dragging your face across the lake.

How do you get up?

You can start on skis or a wakeboard and then step off. Others slide off a beach or jump off a dock, then stand up as they gain speed. Experts can perform the deepwater start. Holding on to the rope, they wrap their legs around the line and start sinking. As the boat takes off and the skiers skim across the water, they sit up and then stand.

Do you wear shoes?

“You’ll never see us walking around barefoot,” said Brian Heeney, a member of the U.S. barefoot team. “If you had a pair of $1,000 skis, would you walk around in them?” BAREFOOTING: A HISTORY

The first documented case of somebody moving across the surface of a lake on their feet was Jesus Christ, around 2,000 years ago. He was followed moments later by a fisherman named Peter, then, in 1947, by Florida teenager A.G. Hancock.

The Water Ski Hall of Fame credits Hancock as the first to successfully ski on his feet, although Dick Pope Jr. is often credited because he was the first to be photographed barefooting that same year. The first competition was held in 1950.

Today there are more than 5,800 barefooters nationwide, according to the Water Ski Hall of Fame. RIPE BANANA

Banana George Blair of New York will perform a barefoot exhibition Saturday and Sunday at Lake Silverado. His trademark is barefooting with no hands while holding the rope in his teeth. He learned to barefoot when he was 46 – in 1959. He is now 91.

BAREFOOT RESOURCES

 • American Barefoot Water Ski Club: www.barefoot.org

 • Barefoot gear: www.lakeelmosports.com or www.eaglesports.com

 • World Barefoot Council: www.waterskieame.org/b_world.htm

 • Barefoot Central: www.barefootcentral.com

 • George Blair’s homepage: www.bananageorge.com

THE BAREFOOT WORLDS

WHERE: Lake Silverado, Adna, Lewis County

WHEN: Through Sunday

SEMIFINALS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Friday

CHAMPIONSHIPS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

TICKETS: $5 per day, or $20 for the entire event, with proceeds going to the Explorer Boy Scouts

GETTING THERE: From Interstate 5, take Exit 77 and Highway 6 west four miles to Adna. Turn right on Bunker Creek Road, then right on Dieckman Road. The log gate entrance to the lake will be on your right in a quarter-mile.

INFORMATION: www.barefootworlds.com

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com