A champion water skier in his first year in college has died suddenly at the age of 18.
Michael Arthur “Micky” Geller was a freshman at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and is a top-ranked water skier from Ontario, Canada, a report says.
The university posted a note about their loss on Facebook on Wednesday.
“It is with great sadness that the University will lower the University flag to half-staff in memory of Michael Arthur “Micky” Geller on Thursday, May 18,” the post told fans.
It is with great sadness that the University will lower the University flag to half-staff in memory of Michael Arthur “…
Posted by University of Louisiana at Lafayette on Wednesday, May 17, 2023
“Micky was a freshman kinesiology major from Carp, Ontario, Canada, and was a member of the National Championship Ragin’ Cajuns Waterski Team. Micky was ranked 6th in the world as a junior water skier in the U21 jump. His friends and family remain in the thoughts, hearts, and prayers of many at the University,” the post added.
Geller started waterskiing at the tender age of four and was a member of Canada’s junior national water ski team. He competed at the IWWF World Championships, the Jr. US Masters Water Ski Tournament, and the Pan American Championships in 2022, the New York Post reported.
“We love you so much Micky,” sophomore water skier Annemarie Wroblewski said after learning of Geller’s passing. “He always said how glad and how proud he was to be able to go to UL and be on the waterski team with all of us. He was looking forward for U21 worlds and being able to continue skiing.”
“With his full throttle approach to life, Micky experienced more in his 18 years than many ever will. However, he was just cracking the surface of the possibilities that lay ahead,” the family wrote of the departed in a May 13 obituary.
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