Sesena, Spain – June 29
They say water is calm until you disturb it. And yesterday in Sesena, Spain, the water was a Monet until Jaimee Bull and Allie Nicholson turned it into Picasso.
It was the kind of showdown that makes purists hold their breath and grown men check their pulse. A head-to-head duel at the Botaski ProAm, where glassy canals become gladiator pits and carbon fiber is the weapon of choice.
Jaimee Bull, the Canadian comet, went out first—straight-faced and smooth-skied, like a surgeon in spandex. The line was at 39.5 off, which in skiing terms is like asking someone to park a school bus in a broom closet. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. She didn’t miss.
Through six buoys she carved like Michelangelo with a Flat Chisel. Bam. All six. Like it was her backyard lake in Ontario.
Allie Nicholson, no stranger to pressure or podiums, took her turn with the poise of a FedEx pilot—deliberate, unshakable, in command. Through 1...2...3, her ski whispering sweet nothings to the wake. At 4, still poetry. At 5, the rhythm faltered, a hair wide, slightly back....too far back, to be honest. And at 6, well... the line may have been taut, but the story wasn’t.
Just inside the buoy. Game over. Jaimee Bull wins.
But don’t call it a collapse. Call it gravity. Call it the tiniest misstep in a dance that punishes anything less than perfect. This was not about mistakes—it was about margins. And in this game, the difference between legend and second place is sometimes a toe’s length and a blink’s hesitation.
After the spray settled, Bull wore the crown—not with arrogance, but with that quiet, Canadian “aw shucks” charm that makes you want to buy her a hot cocoa and ask for tips.
And Allie? She took it with grace. Because champions recognize champions, even in defeat. Especially in defeat.
In Sesena, they don’t need stadiums or scoreboards. Just a stretch of water, a starting dock, and two athletes who refuse to blink. Jaimee Bull may have taken the win, but both left us breathless.
And somewhere out there, water is still settling.