Competitive jet skiing is a thrilling and challenging sport, broken up between four different types of racing, circuit racing, endurance racing, freestyle competitions, and drag racing.
Maize South Junior Jaxon Loyd competes in jet skiing on a national level.
For Jaxon, growing up wasn’t always the easiest. His father was diagnosed with cancer and wasn’t around much. Loyd’s dad passed away six years ago, and with him gone, Jaxon wasn’t in a good place.
“It affected me in both ways, the negative way was my dad isn’t going to see me succeed, and the positive way was that I met my new stepdad that introduced me to new things I never tried before,” Loyd said.
Loyd and his stepdad got along pretty well and introduced him and both his brothers to competitive jet skiing. Loyd has been competing under his step dad’s company called Nautiwater here in the midwest since 2020.
“So my dad’s company basically hosts our own races in Texas, and what we do is post the race, what date it is, and what time it is, and they pay us to come to our races so we’re basically the people who register people for racing,” Loyd said.
Loyd has been in a lot of races ever since starting. He competes in the pro league
And has competed in a bunch of competitions all over the country. Loyd explains that his biggest and favorite race is in Arizona. He considers the state “the birth of jet skiing,” where everyone comes to race and watch others compete. But, he admits that everyone is different.
“It really depends on how you feel, because like a lot of people don’t like waves and a lot of people do, and I like waves and sometimes there’s like lots of boats that drive around and watch us compete in races, so it’s really fun hitting waves,” Loyd said.
Riding jet skis isn’t all fun and games most of the time, Loyd explains that you have to really stay consistent and in shape to even keep up in the sport and really be serious about it. Races can be scary, and the part that Loyd finds the scariest is possibly getting run over by the jet ski.
“I’ve only gotten ran over once like when I fell off my jet ski, because when you fall in the water you have to put your left hand up to let everyone know that you’re okay and so they can see your helmet,” Loyd said. “And it’s like if they’re coming in so fast you got to be quick because if you don’t and people are speeding through, they don’t see you and they could hit your arm or like hit your head while you just keep sinking in water.”
Loyd goes on to explain a lot about how tough the learning process is and how it pairs well with his everyday life. Loyd has two brothers he competes with in jet skiing and his mom who he holds dear to his heart.
“Me and my mom are really close,” Loyd said. “I probably would say I’m her favorite because we do a lot of things together. I always go out with her to eat and hang out, even pay sometimes.”
Loyd still wants to continue to pursue his dream of competitive jet skiing even after high school in hopes that the sport gets more recognition or popularity. Loyd mentions that the sport takes a lot more effort than expected, especially with needing a lot of endurance and control while you’re on the water. Loyd has big dreams for the future, not only with competitive jet skiing but running a business as well.
“[I’ll] probably take over my dads company and help him out at the place more, because he’s getting pretty old and he can’t really do much work anymore so he really needs the help of all four of his sons,” Loyd said.
