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Genevieve Kienbaum, 10, glided through the slalom course with an easy grace that would make most grownups envious. She’s the youngest of Liberty Lake’s waterskiing Kienbaums, a family that competes on a national level. The kids were getting in some practice shortly after returning from the 2014 U.S. Western Regional Waterski Championships July 24-26 in Winsor, Colorado.

Nearly every Kienbaum brought back hardware from the tournament except for the patriarch. Paul, 52, wore a walking boot after tearing ankle ligaments in a crash at an event in Seattle earlier this summer. He oversees a stable of athletes including his wife Juli, 50, and five of their six children (the oldest is busy with motherhood and nursing school). Together they travel the country, pursuing the art of whipping around buoys at highway speeds clutching the end of a rope.