Mike Botti is credited with advancing U.S. Barefoot water skiing skills to answer Australian dominance in the 1970's. He pioneered the upright stance for surface turns and is credited with being the first in the world to do wake turns, a 360 and a 1/2 wrap. He is credited as the first in the United States to do back one-foot wake slalom, back one-foot deep-water start, all four surface turns, and all four wake turns. Mike regularly demonstrated his skills before thousands of spectator in daily ski shows at Sea World and Cypress Gardens and was chosen to do barefoot exhibitions at major water ski events such as The Masters, The Austin Aqua Festival, The Cal Cup and the Liz Allen Superstars. During the first US National Barefoot Tournament held in 1978, Mike dominated Starts, Tricks and Wake Slalom and the first US Records for those three events. His innovative upright style laid the foundation for the next generation of American Barefooters - who later dominated the world of international barefoot competition.