![Talented Swiss waterskier Alice Baumann training on Lake Zurich, August 1962.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/wasserski-alice-baumann-titel-300x225.jpg)
A balancing act on water
Alice Baumann was one of the world’s most successful waterskiers in the 1960s. Time for a look at some exhilarating photos from the pioneering age of water skiing.
![Alice Baumann demonstrating the ‘backward swan’, a move where the rope is hooked onto the foot and the water skier is pulled along backwards on one leg, 1962.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/14-wasserski-1962ericbachmann-300x200.jpeg)
![A female waterskier used in advertising in a Texaco advertisement from 1948.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/wasserski-werbung-1948-223x300.jpg)
![Ralph Samuelson, the inventor of waterskiing, poses in front of a hydroplane with which he was pulled over the water, 1925.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/samuelson-wasserski-1925-300x212.jpg)
![Waterski formation in the 1950s.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/wasserskiformation-in-den-1950er-jahren-300x207.jpg)
The photos of Alice Baumann were taken by Swiss photographer Eric Bachmann (1940–2019). He realised numerous reports in Switzerland and internationally and photographed countless 20th century figures such as Muhammad Ali, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Bob Marley, Astrid Lindgren and many more. His archive is kept in Kaiserstuhl and part of it is accessible online at ericbachmann.ch.