Charger Spotlight: Grace Brown
Photo submitted by Brown.
Grace is a senior at Hamilton. She is active in rugby, Amplify, Spanish Club, and Charger Press! Outside of school, she works at Midwest Twister Gymnastics. The focal point of Grace’s Charger Spotlight is her decorated waterskiing profile. She placed 4th in the Girls 5 Division at the 2025 Goode National Waterski Tournament hosted in California. This year at regionals, which was hosted in Kansas, she placed 4th. She also placed 1st in State!
Grace is only getting better and better, with her rankings being consistently higher than last year, where she placed 12th at Nationals.
Here are some of our favorite moments from Grace’s interview:
How do water skiing competitions work?
The week prior to the tournament normally you get a running order. The running order tells you roughly when you can expect to ski and where you are in the list. When the time gets closer to me skiing I warm up and get ready. Like getting my ski, rope, handle, lifejacket and gloves. Then I wait on the dock for 3 people before I ski. I normally get ready a lot earlier than others but it helps me prepare myself for when I ski. The judges score my run based on the amount of passes I complete and how many buoys that would equal to.
What has been your favorite memory at a competition?
My favorite memory would have to be when I was at Nationals 2 years ago down in Florida. I skied really well and was very proud of how much I accomplished that year. However, that wasn’t what made it my favorite memory, when I got down to the dock and saw everyone who supported me it made me so grateful for everyone. My family, friends, and coach who was down in Florida for his own skiing. My parents and brother helped me grow and supported me. All of them were smiling at me, so proud of the work that I accomplished.
What’s your favorite part of being a water skier?
My favorite part of being a waterskier would be being able to have a sport where the outcome is determined on me alone, while also having the community surrounding watersking. Being on a lake all day in the summer is also a great plus.
What has waterskiing taught you about yourself?
Watersking has taught me that I compare myself to others, with this I would get frustrated when I wasn’t able to do as well as another person, or they were progressing faster than I was. Watersking taught me that I need to focus on myself and my own progress, rather than compare myself to others.
What has waterskiing taught you in general?
Watersking taught me to keep pushing myself to ski better and to change how I thought. When I have a bad day not to focus on the negative but instead on the positive, and how I was able to keep going.
