FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) - Ryan Boyd started out water-skiing, but when he learned he could ditch the equipment and go a lot faster with his bare feet, he found a new sport.

Boyd is a graduate of Fairmont Senior High School and West Virginia Wesleyan College who now lives in Orlando, Florida. The 25-year-old is also a member of the U-S Elite Barefoot Water Ski Team, composed of top barefooters from around the country who compete in the World Championships sanctioned by the International Water Ski Federation.

Boyd says it's not an Olympic sport, but it's an Olympic team event. Boyd hopes to make the team that will travel to New Zealand early next year.

Competitions consist of three event tricks, which have predetermined point values with harder tricks earning higher points.

Boyd started out water-skiing when he was 5 or 6 years old. A few years later, his parents moved to a home by the Tygart River in Fairmont, giving Ryan more access to the water.

Boyd works a full time job in Orlando as an insurance company office manager.