Peter Roberts, who finished second overall in the senior men’s section at the Australian Barefoot Water Ski Championships this month, was invited into the initial squad, as was junior competitor Tom Keast, despite having to sit out the national titles with a shoulder injury.

It was a successful competition for Peter, who won gold medals in the tricks and slalom and silver in the jump.

“I like the tricks section – that’s probably what we train for all the time when we’re at Boggy (Creek) because we’re doing tricks all the time,” he said.

“The jump probably isn’t my strongest … (but) I landed four of six jumps.

“At last year’s nationals, I didn’t land any jumps.”

It was another big step up for Peter and his brother Brett, who both started in the men’s 2 category four championships ago.

If Peter makes the cut for the Australian team – which takes four skiers, usually three men and a woman, as well as two reserves – it will be the first time he represents his country in the sport.

“I’ve got a bit of practice to do over winter and the summer,” he said.

“I won’t hold any expectations. I made the squad last year as well.”

Brett was crowned men’s 1 champion at the nationals, winning gold medals in tricks and in the jump, and a silver in slalom.

“I probably wasn’t expecting to finish with the gold in the jump; we don’t do a lot with it (at training),” the 32-year-old said.

The overall win in the category came after Brett finished runner-up in 2016 and third in 2015.

It has been a fair effort from someone who had a hip operation 12 months ago, and has also had two shoulder reconstructions and a knee reconstruction in the past.

Brett said his goal is to work his way up to the open men’s category and test himself against the elite.

“(In the) tricks, I’m not too far off; slalom is probably a bit of a way away for me, but jumps (needs more work),” he said.

“You’ve only got to go two out of three events to move up into the next category, so if I can improve in tricks and slalom … that’ll be good.

“(But) I’m not too serious about it; I just go there for the fun. If I take it seriously, I probably wouldn’t do as well.”

Thomas Roberts and Harry Keast also competed in the sub junior category at the nationals, finishing with top-10 results.

The 2018 World Barefoot Water Ski Championships will be held in Canada.