Editing Winter Haven, Florida (section)

===Water skiing history===
Winter Haven has played a major role in the development and growth of water skiing as a sport. [[Dick Pope Sr.]] used water skiing as a way to promote his Cypress Gardens theme park starting in the 1930s, and water ski shows soon became a staple of entertainment at the park. He was also the first person to complete a jump on water skis, jumping over a wooden ramp in 1928, for a distance of {{convert|25|ft}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pope|first=Dick Sr.|title=Water Skiing|year=1958|publisher=Prentice-Hall|location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ|page=52}}</ref> He pioneered a number of other water skiing tricks, including the water ski human pyramid, as part of an effort to develop his shows at Cypress Gardens. His son, [[Dick Pope Jr.]] popularized barefoot water skiing, bringing early pioneers such as [[Don Thomson]] to Cypress gardens to develop novel acts such as tumble turns, backwards barefooting, front to back and beach starts to please the theme park crowds.

Winter Haven is connected to 10 members of the [[Water Ski Hall of Fame and Museum|Water Ski Hall of Fame]], more than any other city in the world. These include Dick Pope Sr., Dick Pope Jr., and [[Ricky McCormick]]. [[George A. "Banana George" Blair]], who still holds several water ski world records, was first introduced to the sport while visiting Winter Haven in the 1950s. Winter Haven has many lakes, including its famous chain of lakes, that are perfect for water skiing. Today, several successful ski schools, for both [[water skiing]] and [[barefoot skiing]], make their home there. Every day, all year round, water skiers can be seen practicing their sport on the lakes around town.