Camille Duvall

Camille Duvall started water skiing when she was only four. Born July 11, 1960, to Sam and Diane Duvall, Camille and her brother were provided every opportunity to achieve success as a professional waterskiers. The single-mindedness with which the family went about their pursuit of excellence was stunning. Camille won her first tournament when she was six years old, and her determination to be better than everyone else was already apparent. She practiced near Greenville, South Carolina, on a private lake that her father, an executive with a construction company, leased for the sole use of his two athletically gifted children.

For hours on end each day, Camille worked with private coaches on courses that had been set up for her and her brother, complete with ramps and a variety of boats to simulate any of the variables they might face in a competition. It has been estimated that Duvall's father spent nearly $25,000 a year, for ten years, on his children. His intense desire to see his children succeed at any cost helped mold Camille into one of the best talents the world of water skiing has ever known.