Kyle Cummings is not your average senior business major at La Sierra University. He celebrated his 21st birthday this past summer in England competing in the World Championship Water Ski Race.

“My dad [John Cummings, a dentist in the Inland Empire] started a water ski team called Team Jesus a few years ago,” says Cummings. “Dad felt that we were blessed to have the opportunity to ski together as a family and put the name Team Jesus on our truck and boat that now go all over the world.”

“Kyle is a student who exemplifies the part of the School of Business mission that states ‘make a difference,’” says John Thomas, dean of the La Sierra University School of Business. “He not only excels in academics, but he also excels in the real world and competes on the highest level.”

Cummings began skiing when he was three years old. He has become one of the top water ski racing skiers in the United States and was chosen to compete in England in the World Championships along with skiers from Australia, Belgium, South Africa, Belgium and Italy.

The sport consists of a seven-foot ski that is three inches thick, wooden and flat and encases the skier in “suicide” bindings that help lock the feet in place. They need that binding because the skiers can go up to 110 miles per hour at top speeds.

Skiers are also aided by a harness that wraps their torso and pulls them from the hips. They are pulled by a rope and a driver and observer are in the boat. The ski boats go up to 120 miles per hour and are 21 feet long with 1,200 horse power.

“I fell in England this summer on a turn going about 50 miles per hour,” says Cummings. He hit his face on the ski and had to have five stitches and also suffered a concussion. “My mom was freaking.”

“I wanted to get back out there,” added Cummings. “They throw out one day of your scores in the race, but I knew that my team needed my points.” So with bandages and determination, Cummings skied the same day that he fell, and his dedication to the United States team paid off — they won the gold.

Cummings is a third generation water skier. His grandparents skied, and his mom and dad met water ski racing. His brother, Brad, a La Sierra University freshman pre-dentistry major, also skis.

This World Championship gold is not the first medal Cummings has received in the sport. In 1999 he won the junior world championship award in Spain, and in 2001 he received the Silver Medal World Champion award in Las Vegas.

“It all depends on the water conditions,” says Cummings of the sport. “I was brought up in a family who does this and loves it.”