A NSW coroner has urged the national body for water-ski racing to consider bolstered safety measures four years after champion water-skier Sarah Teelow died in a high-speed race on the Hawkesbury River.
But two-time world champion water-skier Tania Teelow said recommendations from an inquest into her "amazing" daughter's death didn't go far enough and there were "a lot of inadequacies and shortfalls at all levels of ski racing".
She called for more research to develop helmets and flotation devices for water-skiers.
Ms Teelow, 20, suffered head and neck injuries when she crashed soon after the start of the 121-kilometre Bridge to Bridge race in November 2013.
She was travelling between 120km/h and 136km/h when she hit a small wave that flipped her ski into the air and sent her cartwheeling along the water's surface as her helmet came off.
Paramedics treated her at the scene and she was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
She was put on life support but died on November 25.
An inquest in the NSW Coroner's Court scrutinised whether speed or the helmet she wore, which was designed for skydiving but is often used among water-skiers, contributed to her death.
It also looked at whether appropriate procedures and safety measures were in place during the competition.
Deputy State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan on Thursday found Ms Teelow died from a head injury when she lost control of her water-ski and struck the water.
Ms O'Sullivan found safety measures at the race were "to a large degree, appropriate", given the inherent risks of the sport, but said further safety improvements could be made.
She recommended Ski Racing Australia consider developing technical specifications for helmets and personal flotation devices.
The racing body should also consider introducing speed restrictions in the Formula Two category, as well as rules that would mean race scrutineers made sure all competitors' helmets fitted properly, she said.
And she suggested Roads and Maritime Services consult with Ski Racing Australia to weigh up whether speeds in the race should be capped.
Outside court, Mrs Teelow called for a broader safety overhaul to prevent neck injuries and drownings following an "unprecedented" six deaths of skiers in several years.
"What our association needs to do is invest in research and development to identify what needs to happen to create fit-for-purpose equipment, and predominantly helmets, but also [personal flotation devices].
"[Ski Racing Australia] have made it look like they are attempting to improve, but as a whole I believe they are token, they are secondary, they are blanket covers over the primary issues."
Mrs Teelow said her daughter, who was a human movement student at the University of Technology Sydney, was "an amazing girl" who had "so much to offer this world".
"Not a day goes by that I don't cry and miss her, miss my girl. But I have to move forward."
Ski Racing Australia offered condolences to Ms Teelow's family and said that, while it had already implemented some of the recommendations, it would "carefully consider" the coroner's findings.
"As the peak body and regulator of the sport we take the safety of all of our competitors very seriously and as such are regularly reviewing rules to provide a safe environment in the sport," it said in a statement.
