Canadian Siblings, Now Ragin' Cajuns

Cole and Taryn at the 2013 U21 World Championships

Cole and Taryn Grant arrived in the spring semester of 2013. As freshmen, they have contributed to the team immensely. It has been amazing to have such wonderful spirits added to the team, as well as such dedicated athletes.  Through this interview, the UL Water Ski team wants to share a few more details about the siblings and give a little bit more insight to how this season went on the Collegiate and National level, back in Canada. 

Starting off with Cole, a freshman, studying Kinesiology, with a great passion for grilling and makin potato guns. 

Brittany: What has been your most memorable moment of this collegiate semester? 

Cole: Finishing second as Nationals was somehwat disappointing, but very memorable. Being the second best team in the country is something to be proud of. It was a fun week trip to California with the team.

B: You both ski together a fair bit, why do you like skiing together? C: We grew up skiing together so it is what we know. We are each others training partners all summer back home and we are on the same page. Neither one of us knows everything about skiing so we try to figure it out together. It's not a direct coach skier relationship telling someone what to do, it is thinking about it together and trying to get better.  B: Who pushed you the most?  C: I don't know about pushed, but my parents have always encouraged me and been my biggest supporters. I was fortunate to grow up with some great coaches who not only helped me improve my skiing but also encouraged me and made skiing what it's supposed to be, FUN! Growing up in Canada Jaret Llewellyn was definitely one of my heroes, but people like Kole Magnowski, Ryan Dodd, Stevie Collins and Aaron Rathy were always around and I was looking up to them. Matt Rini and Steve Bush have been behind me for a long time as well. Skiing is an individual sport, but the support teams we all have are extremely large.  B: Is there anything about Canada that you wish you could bring to Louisiana? C: I definitely miss home sometimes, but Lafayette is awesome. There are a lot of things that remind me of home, and I have a giant ski team family here now. If there was anything, I would have to say maybe the snow, but I get to see that over Christmas break. In Canada, attendance isn't taken at university that would be nice some days.  B: Cole, How is the new trick-jumping career going? C: The trick-jumping career is just taking off. We've been working hard coming up with what we think is the best technique to not only go the farthest but be the safest. I've landed on my head a few times but it's all part of the learning process. The season is over for my trick-jumping, but I'm in the gym getting ready for next season. I want to push the limits of how far you can go on a trick ski!

B: Do you think this new segment of skiing could become part of our sport anytime soon? C: I think trick-jumping is definitely something that will pick up. It just started as messing around one day and having some fun, and I just wanted to go farther and farther. I think once a few more people start doing it and it gets seen, there will be a snowball affect of many people wanting to do it. It’s cheaper to fly with a trick ski then jump skis. C: I would also like to thank my sponsors and supporters Sport Mantoba, Waterski Wakeboard Manitoba, Sole Footwear, and EcoDrink.

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Now onto Taryn, the ginger prodigy, who is always laughing and making sure everyone else is too. Taryn is also a freshman, studying Speech Pathology, and has recently made the Open Canadian team, to compete later this month in Chile.  Brittany: What has been your most memorable moment of this collegiate semester?  Taryn: Either jumping over 150ft at regionals or the whole experience of collegiate nationals since it was my first one.  B: You both ski together a fair bit, why do you like skiing together?  T: Cole encourages me and pushes me to be a better skier. He is also very helpful with coaching me and making me become the skier that I want to be. It is also fun skiing with him.

B: Who pushed you the most?  T: Cole probably pushes me the most in my skiing. We always push each other and want the best for one another.  B: Is there anything about Canada that you wish you could bring to Louisiana?  T: I wish I could bring my dogs from Canada to Louisiana.  Sometimes I wish we had snow for maybe a month.  B: What is your most exciting accomplishment from this season?  T: Jumping over 150ft and winning at Regionals and Nationals and tricking 2940(not sure if this is correct) at Nationals and tying for 4th.  B: Taryn, Congrats on the Open World team, how is the preparation going for Worlds in Chile? What are you doing to get prepared?  T: Thank you, preparation is going well. I’m skiing with Giannina a lot and we are trying to get on the water as much as possible. It is difficult to keep training hard when a lot of others are not skiing as much so I like to think Giannina and I motivate each other to ski. It is also tough with school and knowing I will be missing a lot of school to go to worlds. I go ski at Bennett’s a bit, especially to jump and then a few days before I leave for Chile, I will be skiing with Matt Rini in Florida.