6-month-old hailed the 'world's youngest water-skier' after effortlessly gliding across a lake

Meet Rich Humpherys, the coolest 6-month-old you're likely to read about this year. Although this adorable toddler is just halfway through his first year of life, he's already got more swag than the rest of us. The youngster recently sent shockwaves across the internet when videos of him showing off his water sport skills were posted online. Rich, who's something of a waterskiing/wakeboarding prodigy, is now being hailed the world's youngest water-skier after one particular video of him skiing across Lake Powell in Utah like its no big deal went viral.

The video — posted by the toddler's parents, Casey and Mindi Humpherys, to Rich's own Instagram page — features the youngster thoroughly enjoying himself while standing upright on a custom water skiboard. An extremely cautious Humpherys is also seen in the video, cheering for his son from the boat while keeping a close watch on the youngster. "Worlds youngest water skier!! #worldrecord 6 months 4 days old," wrote Mindi, who also shared the video on her Instagram account. Although many found the video to be all kinds of awesome, there were some netizens who weren't impressed and criticized the boy's parents for making him do such a risky activity.

"This is wrong in so many ways. I have a 7-months-old baby boy and just to watch this made me paralyzed. I can’t even imagine to put my kid in this kind of danger. This is absurd," commented Instagram user Liliá Punkponey. "Why would you do this? A child is not a toy you can just play with. Bad parenting," wrote Mel John Lemon. Meanwhile, an Instagram user named Diana Najurieta — who claimed to be an expert in early childhood — severely berated the Humpherys for making a child of Rich's age water-ski.

"It’s so sad what you are doing with your baby!!! Maybe you don’t realize can imagine you want to be good parents. The big problem is that with 6 months, he is not prepared for doing that, you are damaging his back and legs bringing him in so unnatural position. I'm a teacher and expert in early childhood. Please don’t do that with your son!! Babys are NOT puppets!!! And if you have a look into his face he is not having fun with that... you are having fun with him. As parents we need to respect and be open for the signals babies are giving to us... He can’t speak but this experience is clearly too much for him. Babys are human beings, not toys," she wrote.

Meanwhile, Humpherys shared behind-the-scenes photos and videos of the preparation that went into building a custom board for little Rich. "Take one look at this kid and tell me he isn’t having the time of his life! Such a little stud! 6 months, 4 days," he wrote on Facebook, sharing snaps of his son babbling and smiling while testing out the board on land. The post was showered with many supportive comments from Rich's fans, many of whom praised the boy's parents.

"Rich is a pretty lucky little guy to have Mindi and Casey for parents. Great future in store for him. Love this family," wrote Facebook user Billie Tagge. "I can’t believe he is standing on his own!!!! He’s only 6-months-old! That in itself is a record. He’s so handsome and super talented," commented Erynn Gibson Cox. "Casey, that is the coolest outing you could have dreamed up for you and your son. Seeing something like this is a first for me," wrote Dave Flitton.