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WATERSKI MagazineHe sits on the periphery of the crowd at an early season pro tour stop. His face is hidden behind Oakley sunglasses and a gray cap pulled down tight. A wide-eyed 8-year-old sheepishly moves forward with his mother whispering in his ear. The boy nervously holds out a hat and pen. With a couple strokes the most famous signature in water skiing is inked over the bill: Sammy Duvall.
“It's for his father too,” says the boy's mother.
An icon to both father and son. It speaks volumes of Duvall's career, which started in 1968 and is nearing an end almost 30 years later. Besides winning six world titles and “somewhere between 30 and 40″ national crowns along the way, the name Sammy Duvall grew to be synonymous with the sport. His name is splashed across one of the most recognized ski boats on the water, and he has his own line of skis. Serious spectators and casual recreational skiers approach industry people and ask with childlike idolatry, “Do you know Sammy Duvall?”
“There are two reasons for the name recognition,” says Duvall, who tied Liz Allan for most votes in the Greatest Skier survey. “One, my early contracts with Kidder and O'Neill were for less money, but if I won they had to put me in their ads and pay incentives. And two, I won the big events.”
Number Two happened so often that his sponsors eventually took the financial incentives out of his contracts. Duvall, like Joe Montana in football or Michael Jordan in basketball, was the guy you wanted on your side when the pressure was at its highest. At the '85 Worlds, facing a hostile crowd in Toulouse, France, and needing to jump 185 feet to win overall, Duvall went 186. Two years later at Thorpe Park, England, he needed to go 194 to win the jump title and 199 for the overall crown. Fired up after a heated confrontation with Mike Hazelwood's father on the dock, Duvall jumped 196 feet for the jump gold and moments later landed a 200-footer to win his fourth straight overall title.
“If there's one regret I have, it's that I didn't stop to smell the roses along the way,” he says.
Now, nearing his 35th birthday, Duvall is about ready to start taking a whiff. Though he hadn't officially announced his retirement at press time, Duvall's struggle to overcome a debilitating inner ear problem and broken foot seems to be nudging him out.
“I'd like to go out on my own terms,” says Duvall. “But I've won everything there is to win. If this is it, then it's been a great run.”
One of the greatest ever. – Robert Stephens
