Australian's Ready to Speed Ski Six-Days
Down Mississippi River, June 26 - July 1,
for Leukemia fundraising and awareness
On
Monday, June 26th, 2000, at 6:00 in the morning, two long distance
high-speed water skiers in brothers Sean (left) and Brenton McGrath, shown
here practicing in Kingscliff, Australia, will be slipping into the waters of
the Mississippi River to begin the adventure of a lifetime. Backed by
product and on-site tech support from marine companies like Mercury Outboards
and Baja Boats, the McGraths, along with tow-boat driver Tony Sutherland
(right), will be attempting to set a world record by water skiing the
commercially navigable length of the Mississippi River, from Minneapolis/St.
Paul to New Orleans, and out to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 3032 km or
1819 miles in just six days. The unique event, at speeds of 55 to 60 mph is a
fund-raiser for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society of America, a cancer of the
blood which Brenton McGrath suffers. Neville Wilson, a third skier who
helped the McGraths set a new world record (27 hrs.) on the 1,300 mile Murray
River in Australia, three years ago, died at the beginning of the year of
cancer. His ashes will be scattered on the Mississippi.