If you look up the word dynasty in the Cajun dictionary, a picture of the UL Water Ski team would be next to it.
"It's so cool. It's a really great experience," Parker Stange, a senior from Texas said. "I don't have my rings on but every time I put my rings on, I'm like 'aw, man!'"
"For them it's fun and it's a way of life," Cajuns Head Coach Ryan Gonzales described. "Like breathing is for us, is winning for them."
The Ragin' Cajuns won the national championship in October. Its their 3rd title in a row and 9th overall.
"For me, my expectation, I just wanted to win one championship my whole college career," Griffin Stange, a senior from Texas said. "To come out and win three in a row is unbelievable and something I never expected."
So how does a water ski team in Lafayette become legendary? Well like any college sport, it starts with recruiting, as the Cajuns have 18 members from 7 different countries.
"I came here to water ski because it's one of the few schools in the US that gives scholarships for waterskiing," Arron Davies, a senior from England said.
Then there's accountability, as these world class water benders govern themselves. No matter if its when practicing at the lake or when traveling to tournaments.
"You know, we're not like football, who has Coach Desormeaux to tell them what to do. We've got us you know, we do it ourselves. We're all drivers. We've all got some coaching abilities of some kind. We've got a high caliber of skier on our team,"
But the most important ingredient is culture. That's where Gonzales comes in. As his emphasis on the Cajun way of life, has turned into a rallying cry.
"I wanted them to learn the Cajun culture. And part of that is the Cajun family. It's inscribed on one of our rings. It's our team motto, Cajun family. And so when the parents come with their kids, they instantly fall in love with the family atmosphere that the team has with each other."
This water ski family will be remembered at UL forever. And their 9 championships, will be hard to top. That now gives them the most national titles in school history.
"I feel like I've been a part of one of the greatest water ski teams in collegiate history," Griffin Stange said. "To come here and make it the successful program that it is at UL, it's a really cool thing."
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