BILLY RIXON (GBR)

Billy Rixon (GBR) has be recognised in the 2018 Hall of Fame.

Billy “Bill” Rixon (GBR) is widely remembered as one of the defining figures of early European waterski racing (Formula 1), particularly for a run of European Championship victories that spanned a full decade.

In the official winners’ table for the European Waterski Racing Championships (men’s F1), Rixon is listed as champion in 1969 (Whitstable, UK)—the inaugural edition—then again in 1973 (Canzo, Italy), and in five consecutive late-1970s titles: 1976 (Hartlepool, UK), 1977 (Blankenberge, Belgium), 1978 (Wiesbaden, Germany) and 1979 (Campione, Italy).

At the very first World Water Ski Racing Championships which were held in Whitstable, Great Britain in 1979, Rixon finished second overall in the men’s standings, underlining that his European dominance translated onto the emerging world stage.