How water skiing and cycling help this Colorado senior manage multiple sclerosis
Jun 23, 2026 02:17PM ● By Rhonda Wray
Ruth Gardner, Colorado's 2025 Female Skier of the Year. When Ruth Gardner slices around a buoy on a water-ski slalom course, the sun overhead and mist spraying her face, she forgets she has multiple sclerosis (MS).
“It’s such a feeling of freedom,” said Gardner, 67. “Even though the boat is pulling you, it still feels like you’re in control.”
Remarkably, Gardner, a lifelong recreational water skier, didn’t begin winning championships until after being diagnosed with MS, a chronic neurological disease known for causing fatigue, weakness, numbness and other symptoms.
“Jumping in cold water wakes you right up,” she said with a laugh.
In 2025, Gardner swept her age and gender division at the regional and national American Water Ski Association championships. She was also named Colorado’s 2025 Female Skier of the Year—a staggering achievement, considering the previous year's winner was just 16 years old.
FREEDOM ON THE WATER
Water skiing was central to Gardner’s childhood.
“We never flew on an airplane. We didn’t snow ski, but our splurging went to water skiing,” she said.
By age 5, Gardner was on the water on shortened skis her father fashioned by cutting down an old pair to fit her small frame. Though she says it took her "a long time" to learn, she was quickly hooked.
“Once I got up, my parents used to say they had to make the boat run out of gas to get me to leave,” Gardner said.
After moving to Colorado in 1993, she skied recreationally at Lake Colorado on Pueblo's east side, near the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River. A professional coach noticed her potential and taught her to navigate a slalom course, weaving around buoys while the boat followed a straight path.
What began as a “little sideline” eventually grew into national competition.
AN UNEXPECTED DIAGNOSIS—TWICE
Gardner was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in 1985, when she was in her 20s. Her early symptoms included double vision and severe body aches. At the time, few treatments were available.
Gardner and her first husband had not yet started a family, so she asked her neurologist whether they should wait.
“He said, ‘You never know what MS is going to do to you, so I would suggest doing it sooner rather than later,’” Gardner recalled.
She had two sons and was pregnant with a third when her husband died. Gardner later remarried and had a daughter.
“I was either pregnant or nursing for a number of years, and I had no symptoms,” she said. “I kept thinking maybe I was misdiagnosed.”
Ruth and Dave GardnerHer symptoms returned the week she turned 50, when she awoke with numbness, tingling and burning on her left side. Treatment options had expanded by then, but Gardner said the medication she took made her unusually irritable. Years later, she stopped taking it. Her condition has not improved, but she said it has not noticeably worsened.
“I never know how much is just getting older versus MS,” Gardner said.
Still, fatigue remains a constant challenge.
“For the most part, it’s just annoying,” she said. “People never believe me when I say I’m tired all the time. I just don’t stop.”
CYCLING FOR A CURE
Gardner combats fatigue with a rigorous fitness routine. She regularly practices Pilates, yoga and weight training, but she is happiest outdoors hiking, snow skiing or riding her bicycle.
She has spent years raising money for MS research and services through the two-day, 150-mile Bike MS Colorado ride and similar events in California.
Gardner had participated in Walk MS but wanted to do more. Fellow advocate Tom Falconer, 72, encouraged her to try Bike MS Colorado, even though she had barely ridden a bicycle in 20 years and had to borrow one from a neighbor.
“The first time she came out on that borrowed bike and wearing Chacos, she was able to keep up with me,” Falconer said. “Ruth has many gifts, and she uses them to the max.”
Her two passions collided during Bike MS Colorado last June. After cycling 60 miles, Gardner stepped off her bicycle, put on her water skis and competed in a tournament along the route.
Ruth and her daughter Katie at Waves to Wine 2026.
HELPING OTHERS RETURN TO THE WATER
One of Gardner’s most meaningful experiences involved helping former classmate Tammy Jennings, 66, return to water skiing.
Jennings, who also has MS, had grown up skiing but feared she no longer had the leg strength or balance to get back on the water after 12 years of trying.
Gardner knew Jennings still had considerable upper-body strength and invited her to Colorado. For five consecutive summers, Gardner helped her friend work her way back onto the lake.
“The first time, she got me up on double skis. Then it was one ski. I felt like I was flying,” Jennings said. “When I wasn’t skiing, I got to sit in the boat and watch an amazing water skier. She’s my hero.”
Gardner now trains and skis recreationally at Laku Landing Ski Lake in Windsor, where she and her husband Dave park a trailer for extended stays.
She is also preparing for her next fundraiser, Sink MS, scheduled for August 9 at Gold Mine Mini Golf, 3402 N. Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs.
“Don't give up,” urged Gardner, to anyone living with a disease. “After the initial shock, keep doing what you love while you can, fundraise to help find a cure and take care of yourself.”
LIVING WITH MS?
Fatigue is one of Ruth Gardner’s most persistent MS symptoms, but she has learned to work with her energy rather than let it control her day. These habits help her keep moving:
• Find the right pick-me-up. Coffee gives Gardner too much of a jolt — “I’ll just go bouncing off the walls,” she said — so she occasionally reaches for a caffeinated Zevia (cola sweetened with Stevia) when she needs a boost.
• Keep moving. “If you sit down, it’s like, ‘Okay, I’m done,’” Gardner said. She suggests beginning with an activity you enjoy and building gradually. Even a short walk after a meal can lower your glucose and improve the function of all your organs.
• Switch gears instead of stopping. Gardner alternates physical activities with less demanding tasks. “If I’m doing physical stuff, I’ll then switch it and take care of desk work at my computer,” she said. Changing the type of work allows her to remain productive without pushing the same muscles or energy reserves continuously.
• Eat healthy. Gardner tries to make nutritious food part of her overall approach to managing MS. “It’s not going to cure you, but I think it makes things better,” she said.
RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
Multiple Sclerosis Alliance of Southern Colorado
Provides programs, resources and support for people with MS in Southern Colorado, including El Paso, Pueblo and Teller counties.
719-633-4603 | MSASoCo.org
National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Colorado- Utah-Wyoming Chapter
Provides information, support services and connections for people affected by MS and their families.
800-344-4867 | NationalMSSociety.org | [email protected]
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