Smith said he was thrilled to qualify again.
“I competed at the Australian National Waterski Championships in Mulwala over Easter,” he said.
“They announced the Australian teams there, and I was lucky enough to be selected to go to Spain in September.
“I got on the squad to go to France for the last one, but I got an injury and couldn’t continue on.
“So, to be selected again, I’m very excited.”
Smith was also awarded the Glen Thurlow Trophy for most outstanding performance at the Australian Masters competition at Bridgewater on Loddon in January.
He said he was unsure how he would match up against the world’s best skiers in Spain, but was looking forward to competing.
“There’s slalom, tricks and jump competitions, and I compete in all three. They also have an overall competition made up from your scores in all three events, which I’ll be in as well,” he said.
“At the moment I’m ranked about 100th in the world in slalom, about 25th in tricks and seventh in jump.
“When you combine all three I’ll probably be going across just to make up the numbers, because there are some really good skiers in the world who will be competing there.
“The United States is probably the biggest waterskiing nation, but they come from all over – England, France, Italy and even some of the South American countries are big in water-skiing.
“It’s not as big in Australia, but still quite popular.”
Smith said he had loved waterskiing since taking up the sport, but only began competing later in life.
“Nine or 10 years ago I was getting closer to retirement, and it was always something I had wanted to do, so time was a big factor,” he said.
“I had wanted to do it all my life and the opportunity came along, so I decided to do it.
“I’ve now done nine Australian championships and nine Victorian championships.”
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