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HAMILTON — After an hour of barefoot waterskiing pyramids and daring jumps, little Kristin Roark took the aquatic stage at Great Miami River Days Saturday, Sept. 6.

She is 4 years old.

"Her dad and I taught her how to ski last year out at the boat club and she's been skiing all summer," said Kristin's mom, Kelly. But this was her first time in front of an audience.

"We're more nervous about it than she is," said her father, Roy. "She loves a crowd, she looks for people to wave to when she's skiing."

It was a fluke that Kristin was called into the show at the last minute.

In addition to crowd-pleasing high-speed acrobatics, the Wisconsin-based Badgerland Water Ski Show Team had planned a skit based on Popeye for River Days. But the team's Sweet Pea couldn't make it.

River Days organizer Mike Cox knew the Roarks through the Hamilton Boat Club, and knew Kristin was up to the task; he helped get her on skis to begin with last year.

Cox was right. For her opener, she did a loop in the river. Kristin got right up on her feet, red dress flapping in the wind. The crowd cheered as she swung around and came to a stop on the artificial beach. Kristin's grandmother cried with joy.

And afterward, Kristin said she was ready for her big show.

"I'm gonna ski," she said. "I'm gonna be Sweet Pea."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.