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McClintock Siblings Chasing Pan Am Gold in the Water

Waterskiing runs in the McClintock family blood. Siblings Jason and Whitney are back on the big stage, going for gold in front of the home crowd at the Pan Am Games.
Photo courtesy Jason McClintock

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

It's like having a tug of war with a two-ton machine, or trying to harness a 5,000-pound bull. Whitney McClintock knows she can't fight the speedboat that hurdles her across the water at speeds reaching 60 kilometres per hour as she navigates a six-buoy slalom course with razor-sharp turns executed within a margin for error that's as thin as a hairline.

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The 24-year-old waterskiing champion and Team Canada member instead becomes one with the machine as she cuts in and out of the markers with the dexterity and precision of a surgeon and the maneuverability of a dragonfly.

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"A lot of people get injured from battling the boat, but when you get in synch with it, it's a rhythm, it's maintaining a posture," says Whitney, a longtime national team member and a favourite to medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto this week. "When you find the right angle, you use the boat your advantage. If you don't, at some point, it will break you."

The five-time world champion is philosophical about the sport she's been thinking about her entire life. As a member of the mighty McClintock clan, Canada's first family of waterskiing, Whitney has more than two decades of experience under her belt, and a list of accomplishments too long to write.

She'll be one of two McClintocks vying for waterskiing gold at the Games along with her older brother Jason, a world champion with his own laundry list of accolades, and heir to the family's well-known and successful waterskiing school at Puslinch Lake in Cambridge, Ontario. It was at Puslinch Lake at an early age that the pair discovered their tremendous abilities and grew to realize their enormous potential, all of which they came by rather honestly.

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When considering the great Canadian sports families, our minds tend to wander, naturally, toward hockey. We think of the Sutter and Staal family legacies that permeate our national sport. The fathers, sons, brothers and uncles that skated at the highest levels of hockey.

But all things being equal, the McClintock legacy is just as impressive. It has produced two generations of world-beating water skiers, starting with brothers Jeff and Joel and sister Judy in the late 1960s. That trio won numerous national, international and world championships, and all three are members of the Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada Hall of Fame. It was in their wake that the sensational McClintock siblings flourished, each getting up on their skis by no later than three years old. Both had competed in national competitions by the time they were eight. To date, the pair have amassed dozens of world titles across age groups, excelling at each level as they rose to prominence. And they've done it side by side every step of the way.

"It's probably one of the biggest things I'm thankful for, that I'm so close to my brother, and the sport has made it that way," said Whitney, who along with Jason resides and trains most of the year in Orlando. "We went to school together in a small homeschool facility, five kids in a room, we went to the same university. We have a great relationship."

Heading into competition Monday, the brother and sister were most excited about performing in front of a home crowd. Piles of patrons, supporters and students from their ski school planned to turn out to the Ontario Place West Channel to rally them on. Those who weren't able to get tickets to the sold-out event signed up to volunteer at the venue to ensure a strong Canadian fan showing.

Jason, who'll be competing in the slalom and tricks competition at the Pan Ams, said the support he's received in the run up to the Games has served as a reminder of how far he and his sister have come to date, and where they're going.

"We know that we had an amazing opportunity with my parents having the ski school," he says. "We spent every day on the lake. We had every opportunity given to us because our parents were so passionate about the sport, they wanted us to succeed.

"It's not something we think about too often because it's the day to day, but I guess in a way, I do take it for granted sometimes."