Forget crawling. At 6 months old, Auburn Absher is water-skiing! The infant soared to internet stardom after his dad, Robert Absher, posted a video to YouTube on Sunday, September 4.
In the clip, little Auburn is seen showing off his skills on Falls Lake in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Strapped into a Coast Guard–approved life jacket, the tot travels 150 feet while holding onto a special railing that his father built from PVC piping. Running alongside him the entire time: his mother, Heather.
Robert says that his son, who was 6 months and 10 days old on Sunday, is the youngest water-skier in the world, beating out Zyla St. Onge, who was 6 months and 27 days old. But not everyone is impressed. “Parents should be charged with child endangerment,” tweeted one person, while another warned, “Good way to break your kids neck.”
But Robert, a competitive wakeboarder, tells Us Weekly that people shouldn’t be so quick to judge. “We practiced before taking him out on the water,” the 34-year-old tells Us. “We put him on the ski for the first time in the living room. We just let him stand there … and then I started moving him around real slow.”
As for the critics who pointed out that Auburn is not wearing a helmet, Robert says it wasn’t necessary. “The vest he was wearing has head protection on the back,” Robert explains. “And with me pulling him at the speed we were going, he never would have been able to fall forward.”
