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WATERSKI MagazineFor a rare moment, Kristi Overton Johnson, regarded as the best female slalom skier in the world, didn't know what to do. It was the weekend of September 14 and there she floated, at one end of Lake Okeeheelee in West Palm Beach, Florida, dumbfounded. For the first time in history a woman was about to venture where no woman had ever gone – the 41-off pass.
“I wasn't even sure if I had that loop [41] on my rope,” says Overton Johnson, who went on to round one buoy at 41 off to set a world record.
To lend perspective to her latest mark, consider that at the start of the 1996 season only eight men had ever gotten into 41 and that rarely does the record move more than a half-buoy at a time. Yet Overton Johnson was shattering the women's world mark by four buoys – from three at 39-1/2. The moment was further proof that Overton Johnson has been able to step it up since she dominated women's slalom in its last year on the pro tour in 1995.
“I have a different outlook now because skiing is not the end-all, be-all for me,” says Overton Johnson, who's scheduled to finish law school in May. “I'm able to relax and enjoy skiing more than ever.”
She also credits a new diet. Instead of pulling Pop-Tarts and fat-free snacks from her gear bag, Overton Johnson now carries around high-protein items like cans of tuna and Met-Rx bars. It helped her simultaneously lose 8 pounds and add strength to her already powerful frame.
With her mind and body at high octane, Overton Johnson, who's not yet 27, says something the world's best women skiers don't need to hear: “There's no reason I can't take the record farther.”
