To say Fran and Roy Hagen you also have to say “The skiing Hagen Family”. They have been a mainstay in Minnesota water ski competition since 1961.

Fran and Roy have been married since 1948 and have four children, Ron, Nancy, Wayne, and Gary and many grandchildren. They live in Edina and ski at their lake home on Dutch Lake in Mound, MN.

They learned to ski in 1958 at their family cabin on Cross Lake. Fran couldn’t get up on skis for the first time and was black and blue from the waist down for a week after. Roy had better luck than Fran did. He was the first in the family to learn to ski on a single ski.

After attending a Minneapolis Aquatennial water ski tournament at Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, they decided they could ski as well as anyone competing. Later they ran through a slalom course locally with some people who encouraged them to get involved in competitive skiing.

Water Ski Highlights:

• Eagle Lake Water Ski Club member 1961
• American Water Ski Association members since 1962
• First tournaments in 1961
• 1963, Fran and Roy placed first in Senior Women and Senior Men Slalom at their first Prior Lake Open, later called the 10,000 Lakes Open
• 1963 Midwest Regionals, Winona, MN: Fran placed first in Senior Women Slalom

Winning these first tournaments gave them lots of enthusiasm for the sport. They won most of the tournaments in 1963 and qualified for the Nationals in Long Beach, California, traveling by train, which was day and a half trip. They figured they had better go since it may be their only chance.

• 1963 Nationals: Fran placed third in Senior Women Slalom
• 1965 Midwest Regionals: Fran again won Senior Women Slalom
• 1965 Nationals, Minneapolis, MN: Fran was second in Senior Women Slalom and Roy placed tenth in Senior Men Slalom
• Minnesota Water Ski Association members since 1961
• MWSA secretary and treasurer for many years (Fran)
• AWSA Regular Judgeship (Fran and Roy)
• AWSA Regular Scorer (Fran)
• AWSA Assistant Driver (Roy)
• Chief Judge at many local tournaments (Fran)
• Tournament Chairman at many tournaments at Lake Saucier (Roy)
• Built a permanent judging and concession tower at Lake Saucier
• Mastercraft Promotional Team members for over 25 years
• Nationals medals: Fran has 10, Roy has three
• 1999 Nationals: Fran won Women 7 Slalom and Roy won Men 9 Slalom
• AWSA Ambassador (lifetime) members

All of their children competed on local, regional, and national levels. Gary won Jr. Boys Jumping and third in tricks at the 1970 Nationals in Canton, Ohio. Nancy was the South Central Women Slalom record holder in 1979 and has placed as high as third nationally.

The family started snow skiing in the 1960’s to stay in shape for water skiing. They’ve been skiing at Trollhaugen and for 30 years at Wild mountain ever since. Fran and Roy are both Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) rated instructors, teaching four times per week, and they race on Sundays with the “Wild Bunch” team.

Fran and Roy Hagen richly deserve spots in the Minnesota Water Ski Association Hall of Fame for their enthusiasm and dedication to the sport. As Fran once said, “One thing that’s nice about water skiing is that it’s friendly competition. Everyone is for everyone else, and you get a chance to make a lot of friends.”