On a typical fall New England day for Sage Pottbecker ‘21, she would be lucky to get out on the water daily and practice skiing. But this is 2020, and nothing is really deemed typical anymore. Sage, a senior at Westover, decided to make the most of the unique circumstances during the coronavirus pandemic. When Westover made the announcement of virtual distance learning as an option in the fall of 2020, with only day students on campus for in-person learning, like a bird, Sage headed South.
A top 10 nationally world-ranked amateur waterskier, Sage and her family made the decision to allow her to reside in Groveland, Florida this fall, where she is attending the Jack Travers WaterSki School -- honing her craft -- and also taking Westover classes virtually.
“COVID has 100% made alterations in how we are living our day-to-day life and has made some very difficult patches in lives, but without COVID, I would never have been able to have this experience and still be a part of the Westover community,” Sage said. “So for that, I am very thankful.”
As of Oct. 20, Sage was ranked third by USAWaterskiing in her division in the slalom event, and third in jump after competing at the Holy Cow Tournament at Ski Fluid in Polk City, Florida this past weekend. Sage tied a personal best in slalom with a score of 2 @ 38 off and a jump of 118-feet, which is her second longest jump in a tournament.
My friends and Westover are the best. Whether it be sharing my progress online, or texting me and asking how things are going, the community has been there for me and I greatly appreciate it.
Sage, who is from Morris, CT, tries to actively ski as much as she can, but living in the Northeast in the fall where the weather changes, the water gets colder, and people are working -- skiing gets harder to do. So after a summer of tournaments, Westover giving her the option to take classes online, and the idea to extend her season and keep improving, it was almost like catching the perfect wave.
“Being in Florida right now is like summer back home, so really my summer has just been extended because of this opportunity,” Sage said.
After competing at the Malibu Open in Trophy Lakes in Charleston, S.C. in September -- where she won the U17 (under 17 years old) Girls Jump event -- Sage and her family drove to Groveland, Florida, where she’s been living and training. With her family back home, she stays in the girls bunk room, similar to a boarder’s life.
A day for Sage this fall is: wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, ski, school work, and then repeat. Sage’s schedule allows her to ski three times a day. While back in Connecticut, Sage is a day student, so living so far away and taking virtual classes has been a new experience.
“My friends and Westover are the best,” Sage said. “Whether it be sharing my progress online, or texting me and asking how things are going, the community has been there for me and I greatly appreciate it. Even though we may not all be in the same place, the way our online school is set up allows all of us to see one another and have discussions as we would in class. So, even though I am away from my classmates, I think I am right there with them most of the time.”
After a spring season that resulted in many cancelled tournaments due to COVID, Sage’s season started up in June as she attended the 20th annual U.S. Junior Open Water Ski Championships in Maize, Kansas, her first international competition, placing fourth in the slalom final. Sprinkled in throughout the summer were some smaller, local tournaments, including Pre-Regionals and Regionals at her home site in Avon. In September, she competed in the New England Slalom Series in New York and then the Malibu Open where she had a breakthrough performance, winning the U17 Girls Jump title with a personal-best jump of 120 feet. Since residing in Florida, Sage has taken part in a few tournaments, aiding in her progress and rankings.
“When talking about tournament scores, I have definitely been able to improve my rankings and scores since being here as a result of being able to work at it and attend tournaments,” Sage said. “One thing about being an athlete is that you will have periods of serious growth, then your performance might stutter a little and fall, go back up again and then plateau for a little bit. That being said, I have had my sets where it is not where I want it to be, and I have had times where I am very happy about my performance. Either way, I am learning so much from this experience and do believe that I am improving as a skier, student, and just as an athlete in general.”
In early October, Sage did face adversity as she crashed while jumping, resulting in a rib contusion and having to take some time off. Always striving to do her best, Sage said the time away was hard, but she was able to get back on the water with a positive outlook.
“It’s funny sometimes because I am very hard on myself when it comes to achieving my goals, in or out of the classroom,” Sage said. “I look at my skiing now and say okay, ‘You need to do this, this, and this,’ and when I get scores that are not what I was looking for I am hard on myself, yet I forget that last year, at the beginning of the season, even last month, I would be over the moon if I had gotten those scores.”
With two more tournaments left in the season, Sage is currently ranked 6th for slalom and 7th for jump in the world in the U17 division. Sage’s season will end after her last tournament in November and taking the SAT. She said the plan is to be home before Thanksgiving and enjoy time with family.
She explained having this experience has allowed her to improve as a skier, get her scores up and hopefully quality for bigger tournaments she
Looking ahead to college, she plans on studying nursing and still skiing.
“In the big picture, I want my name in the top 5 for these two events (slalom, jump) for it would allow me to qualify for some bigger tournaments that I would love to experience,” she said. “But at the end of the day, being able to have had this experience and improve my rankings and my skiing has meant the world to me.”
