'She loves it!' Parents explain how they 'trained' their six-month-old daughter to water ski when she can't even CRAWL - and why they don't believe it was dangerous 

The Florida parents who controversially let their daughter water ski behind a boat at just six-months-old have explained how they trained the little girl - and why they are sure it wasn't dangerous.

Parents Keith St. Onge, a champion barefoot water skier, and Lauren Lane St. Onge, a champion show skier, spent three weeks dragging their daughter Zyla around the house on the purpose-built 'baby ski' they made her.

'She got it straight away,' Lauren told Daily Mail Online on Thursday.

'My husband would follow behind her so she wouldn't fall. It became like a game.' 

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Getting ready: This home video by Lauren Lane St. Onge shows her husband, champion barefoot water skier Keith St. Onge, teaching their daughter Zyla how to ski by dragging her around the house 

'She was a natural': Zyla gripped a handle bar attached to the skis. The parents spent three weeks dragging their daughter Zyla around the house

Zyla cannot walk yet or even crawl, however her parents say they knew almost straight away that she - like them - loved the water.

'You put this in a pool or a lake or a bathtub and she is cheering and kicking her legs. She loves it,' Lauren said.

However it was the little girl's infancy that troubled people when a video of Zyla going skiing on Lake Grew in Florida went viral this week. 

The feat of a 700ft ski without support was called a record-breaking run, however others called it irresponsible and dangerous. What if she had fallen in the water?

Lauren said that she never feared for Zyla's safety and that the expedition was well-planned and thought out.

'I see where those people are coming from, but they don't know what they are talking about,' Lauren said.

'Water skiing for us is like going for a job for other people. It's just what we do. We live and breath it. I first learned aged three.

'We would never put our daughter in danger.'

Testing the water: Baby Zyla is just six months old and can't crawl yet - but she can water ski

The baby girl appeared calm and relaxed as she cruised on a lake in Florida last weekend - and she would have gone farther given the chance

Zyla skied almost 700ft on a pair of modified water skis as her parents watched from the shore

Her parents say she has always loved the water and cheers and kicks her legs even in the bath

Zyla has even been water skiing BEFORE she was born. Here mom Lauren shows off her skills while pregnant

Zyla's first skiing trip was at a water ski school in Winter Haven. Lauren said there were people lining the water along the bath the little girl was skiing, ready to swim out to her if she fell.

She said the girl's father was standing at the bow of the boat, ready to dive in at any point.

'At every point there was someone who have gotten to her within a second,' Lauren said.

'I wasn't worried, but my heart was beating with excitement.

'Her father did dive in to get at the end, as the boat stopped and started slowing down. She barely got her hair wet.'

The 30-inch, 20-pound Zyla skied across Lake Silver in Winter Haven, Florida, last Thursday. 

A video of her skiing was posted on YouTube and quickly went viral.

Her father said afterwards that she could have gone further than 700ft, however that was the length of the lake and the boat had to stop.

Zyla gripped a handle bar attached to the skis that looks like a walker someone with mobility problems might use.

She wore a pink and purple life jacket as a boat pulled her at a speed of seven miles per hour.

Zyla's parents (pictured) noticed that when she was able to stand, she had a strong grip on whoever's hand she was holding. They are seen here posing for a Christmas card last year, shortly after Zyla's birth 

The ski champion couple has a history of ski themed cards - they shared this holiday greeting in 2012

About a dozen adults treaded water on either side of Zyla's path, but the path in the lake ran out of adults as she glided farther away from the shore, at which point she grimaced and let out a few cries.

If they had known she would go for longer, they would have lined more people up, her parents said. 

The boat's 30-foot line was pulled closer and the boat was slowed as Zyla got farther out.

When she and the skis sank into the water, Keith jumped in and was with her in seconds, he said. 

USA Water Ski spokesman Scott Atkinson said the association doesn't keep track of youngest or oldest water skier records. 

It only tracks the youngest and oldest to ever compete in national championships.

'I am presuming this is something that the folks at Guinness World Records may track,' Atkinson said in an email.

Six-month-old Zyla skied nearly 700 feet Saturday in what the owners of a Florida water ski school called a record-breaking run - but Guinness doesn't record anything for people under 16

In video footage, the girl's parents can be seen running alongside the baby in the shallow water as she glides on a pair of modified skis

Keith said he had contacted Guinness officials, but they told him they don't record anything involving individuals under age 16.

Zyla's parents noticed that when she was able to stand, she had a strong grip on whoever's hand she was holding, so they thought she might be good at water skiing.

They placed her in skis inside their house, pulled her across the carpet and saw that she loved it, St. Onge said. She also was used to the water from trips to pools and lakes.

Keith said he realizes some people might not think it's appropriate for someone so young to be water skiing, but he said safety measures were taken and it happened in the controlled environment of a private lake geared for water skiing.

'People don't realize that it was done properly,' he said. 'It was planned and she was ready for it.'

Keith is a champion show skier, Lauren Lane St Onge is a champion show skier.

The WBC wrote wake boarding star Parks Bonifay set the previous record of 100 feet at the age of six months and 29 days.