ASHLEY TERRY
Longtime Azle dentist Joe McCreary has something new to smile about — and we’re not just talking teeth.
McCreary — who has been water skiing competitively since the early 2000s — brought home a seventh-place finish in the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation Over 35 Waterski Championships in Calgary, Canada July 19-26.
While McCreary wasn’t initially ranked high enough to qualify for the world competition, he received one of four “wild card” invitations about a month before the event.
“Last year, I won a national waterski championship, so some of my buddies were like, ‘You should try to go to world.’ My ranking wasn’t that high … so I applied and tried to ski in a couple of tournaments to improve my ranking list,” McCreary told The Azle News. “You have to be in the top 20 in the world to go, and I think I was 31st, but I got in and I did pretty good.”
MAKING A SPLASH
An Azle native who grew up on Eagle Mountain Lake, McCreary said he started waterskiing at a young age. However, it wasn’t until McCreary returned to the Azle area in 1996 following dental school that he began taking the water sport more seriously.
“My buddies talked me into going to Marine Creek Lake, and that’s where we train,” McCreary said. “We practice there three to four days a week and we try to ski pretty much all year round.”
McCreary specializes in slalom, one of three events in USA Water Ski competition alongside trick skiing and jumping. The objective of slalom skiing is to ski around six buoys with the shortest line possible while the boat travels straight at precisely 34.2 miles per hour.
“We’re going about 34 miles an hour, which is pretty fast, but then behind the boat, you’re going about 50 to 60,” McCreary said. “It’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of adrenaline rush in doing it.”
For the past 10 years, McCreary has competed at the national level, practicing with his friends multiple times a week to step up his game and improve his ranking.
“In the tournaments, it’s tough because if you fall, you’re done. If you miss a buoy, you’re done. There is no second chance,” McCreary said. “Slalom water skiing is all about timing, and the more you practice, the better your timing is going to be.”
FROM DRILLS TO THRILLS
Although McCreary has spent much of his free time on the water, he has also spent nearly three decades building his career on land.
After returning to his hometown in 1996, McCreary began practicing dentistry at 209 Roe St., where he will celebrate his 30th anniversary this November.
Balancing a nearly 30-year dental career with competitive water skiing may seem difficult, but McCreary said there is one key component to making it all happen: early mornings.
“I’m blessed to have some good friends that like to water ski early in the mornings,” he said. “We get up at 5:30 in the morning, and we get out on the lake before the sun's up, so as soon as we can see the slalom course, we start skiing.”
McCreary and his friends ski Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before heading to their respective jobs in dentistry, pharmaceutical sales and pool construction — and their dedication doesn’t stop when the temperatures drop.
“As long as the air temperature and the water temperature added together equals 100 degrees or better, then we'll get out to ski,” he said. “If it's 50 degrees in the water and 50 degrees in the air, then I'll ski. If it's below that, then I won't.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY
McCreary has passed down his passion for competitive water sports to two of his children: his stepdaughter Ava Dash, an Azle High School junior who serves as captain of the swim team, and his 21-year-old son, Joseph McCreary IV, who’s a nationally ranked slalom skier.
“He (Joseph) actually did all three events and went to nationals in trick, slalom and jump,” McCreary said. “Now, he’s in (Washington) D.C. competing in water polo collegiately. He’s still in the water, but he’s not water skiing.”
While Samuel, 2, and Patrick, 1, are not quite old enough to water ski just yet, McCreary said he hopes his two youngest children will follow in his footsteps one day, too.
“It’s a lot of fun,” McCreary said. “That adrenaline rush of going 60 miles an hour on a ski on water … it’s just a fun exhilaration. It’s not a leisure sport like wake surfing or wakeboarding. It's a little more aggressive … It’s really easy to get addicted to it.”
Cara, McCreary’s wife, said water skiing has become more than just a sport for her husband.
“He sees it as an outlet. He gets to bond with his buddies, kind of like his therapy on the water,” she said. “It’s like his coffee for the morning.”
McCreary said his next aspirations are to win nationals again and to compete in the 2028 IWWF World Over 35 Waterski Championships, which will take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 3, 2028, in Waters Edge, Wilmington, Illinois.
“It gives you a good purpose,” McCreary said, “and it keeps you young.”
