Don Cameron Thomson (born October 14, 1941) is an American

water skier Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficient ...

and a pioneer in the sport of

barefoot skiing Barefoot skiing is water skiing behind a motorboat without the use of water skis, commonly referred to as "barefooting". Barefooting requires the skier to travel at higher speeds () than conventional water skiing (). The necessary speed required ...

. He expanded early barefoot endurance records from 5 to over 30 minutes and introduced new maneuvers to the sport such as doubles barefooting, front to back and back to front turns, and participated in the development of the tumble turn with Terry Vance. Thomson was also a Master's rated 3 event skier, a proponent of water ski technology and of professional show skiing in the United States and Japan. He introduced backward barefooting to show skiing at

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

in 1962, and was instrumental in the introduction of carbon fiber in molded skis, and the slalom fin. During the Vietnam war, where Thomson served as a Navy helicopter pilot with

HA(L)-3 HA(L)-3, (Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light) 3), nicknamed the "Seawolves", was a naval special operations aviation squadron unit in the United States Navy (USN) formed in support of United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC) operations ...

, he was noted for water skiing and teaching other soldiers to water ski in river combat zones of Vietnam, and behind LST vessels in the Gulf of Thailand. A life size photograph of Thomson barefooting is featured in the

Water Ski Hall of Fame and Museum The Water Ski Hall of Fame and Museum is the hall of fame, museum, and archive of the sport of water skiing. Founded in 1980 and currently located in Davenport, Florida, the organization is administered by the USA Water Ski Foundation. History ...

where he was presented the Don-Thomson Award of Distinction in 2012.Award of Distinction
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References

Sources

Don Thomson at WaterSkiHallOfFame.com
1941 births American water skiers Living people People from Jackson County, Missouri Sports inventors and innovators 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-sport-bio-stub People from Winter Haven, Florida United States naval aviation Helicopter pilots