Saskatchewan water skiier rides golden momentum into nationals

Saskatchewan water skiier rides golden momentum into nationals

Lac Pelletier's Dylan Wall won gold at both provincials and the Western Canadian Championship

You wouldn’t think stopping a puck would have much in common with a tight turn on water skis.

For Lac Pelletier’s Dylan Wall, being a hockey goaltender and a Western Canadian champion water skier are similar tests of mental strength.

“Do what you know you can do,” Wall said. “Stick to your training, stick to your coaching, know what you can do and don't get too worked up about it.”

Wall's father Laine said the mental toughness his son developed in both sports is a big reason the 14-year-old won U14 slalom gold medals in the 2026 Saskatchewan and Western Canadian Championships.

“When the puck drops, you’ve gotta be ready,” said Laine Wall. “When you come off the dock on your first western run, you have to be ready to go … playing an overtime game and being in nationals, having that pressure on you when you come off the dock. He’s a mature kid.”

Now Dylan is preparing to represent Saskatchewan at nationals in Port Colborne, Ontario, with an eye toward a podium finish.

“I've been skiing very well in practice lately and I just like to keep that up and translate that through into the tournament,” Wall said.

Growing up at Lac Pelletier Regional Park, approximately 241 kilometres southwest of Regina, Wall has been on the water all his life.

“I remember having him in the boat when he was still in his car seat,” Laine Wall said.

Both of his parents water ski and he took it up at five years old.

Wall said he only really started taking it more seriously a few years later, when he got slalom skis for Christmas.

“It's honestly just being on top of the water and going that fast and going around the course,” he said. “It’s just something about that I've always loved.”

He won provincials in only his second year competing and started to work with coach Carter Lucas and the Saskatchewan High Performance Water Ski Team in Saskatoon.

“He was one of those kids that's out there for hours every day, whether he's with a coach or without a coach,” Lucas said. “Super self-driven … his effort on the water has really helped him improve drastically over the last few years.”

RAW VIDEO: Youth Waterski Champion Dylan Wall

Lucas — himself a five-time national champion — said any water skier from Saskatchewan has got to be especially driven to deal with the cold water and get the most of the short seasons.

“He just took it really seriously,” Lucas said of Wall. “We went down to Florida with him and a few of the other development team kids. It went really good. They've been focusing really hard this year, training for many months. He's had an insane amount of ski rides.”

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Wall said he’s been getting close to 200 skis in the summer.

That work translated into his provincial and western gold medals this year. Now he gets a chance to improve on his 8th place finish in slalom and 5th overall from the 2025 nationals.

“I feel like I took a big jump mentally and skill wise,” Wall said. “I feel a lot bigger and stronger. I'm hoping to have a good result at nationals.”

The reality of being a multi-sport athlete is there's not much time to rest between seasons.

A week after he competes across the country at nationals, Wall will be on the ice at hockey camp with the Swift Current Legionnaires.

If the results keep coming in the water, that sport could start to bleed into hockey season as well.

“I love this sport, I love the game of it, I love everything, I love the grind,” Wall said. “I definitely have lots of interest in going down to Florida or Louisiana for most of the winter and training there.”

It’s already been a long journey from boat rides in car seats to national championships.

“He wanted to try it out and next thing you know, he's skiing better than me,” Laine Wall joked.

It’s a journey Dylan is glad he’s been able to take with his dad.

“It's been a huge thing being able to go on the boat pretty much every day together,” he said. “I've always looked up to him my whole life.”

This week, Laine said if all goes right, he’s hoping he could be looking up at Dylan on a podium among the best in Canada.

Shawn Mullin is a CBC reporter in southwest Saskatchewan with over 20 years of media experience. He has lived in Swift Current, Sask., since 2010 and started working at CBC's new local bureau in June 2026. You can reach him at shawn.mullin@cbc.ca.