Training for the Winter Olympics doesn’t stop just because the snow has melted.
Athletes with the U.S. Aerials team actually spend about as much time in the pool, as they do skiing.
Part of their training program after the snow melts is heading to Park City where they ski off ramps, twist and turn 60 feet in the air and then land hard in the pool.
Patrick O’Flynn, with the U.S. Ski Team Freestyle, says "It’s spending 6 months on the water and 6 months on snow, it’s a lot of fun. You have a lot more fun on water because it’s so relaxed but snow is also more fun because you have the competition season and all that."
Some skis actually break from the force of hitting that water and if you land wrong it can really hurt your back, but these athletes know what they’re doing.
Do the twist. U.S Freestyle skiers getting ready for @pyeongchang2018 Winter Olympics by jumping into swimming pools. @9NEWS #9News pic.twitter.com/bhmmLBWXBy
— Matt Renoux (@MattRenoux) June 29, 2017
They start jumping in the pool in May, right after the season end, and then they keep going until November when this water starts to get a little chilly.
Soon Park City will also offer a big angled airbag so athletes can go off a big air jump and land softly on a surface that’s kind of like snow.
