ZACHARY, La. - Jaret Llewellyn of Innisfail, Alta., overcame a back injury to win the silver medal in men's jump Saturday night at the LA Night Jam water ski competition.
Llewellyn, a nine-time world champion, jumped to 66.75 metres to finish behind Freddy Krueger of the U.S., who won the event with a 69.79 metre jump.
Ryan Dodd of Olds, Alta., was fourth at 65.22 metres.
Competing at night provided an additional challenge for the competitors and there were some wipeouts.
"I was decent on my second jump but I knew I had left the door open for Freddy," said Llewellyn, 38.
"On the third jump I really set myself up well but had trouble focusing on the ramp and I couldn't get (above 66 metres). That really would have put the pressure on Freddy."
Last month at the Masters, Llewellyn injured his back in a third-place performance in the jump. The injury kept him off the water for a week and he didn't decide to compete in the Night Jam until a couple of days before the event.
This year's world water skiing championships are set for August 3-9 in Calgary and Llewellyn is confident he can snare the gold from Krueger.
At the last worlds in 2007, Llewellyn won the overall title and was second in jump behind Krueger in jump.
"I was probably over-skiing a bit because I am focusing on all three events," said Llewellyn.
"Taking the week off may not have been such a bad thing because I felt much better going into this weekend's event than when I was entering the Masters. I feel I'm back on track and headed in the right direction."
