Roger Codere learned to water ski in 1957. Two years later he began competing as a jumper in Quebec tournaments. Between 1960 and 1964 he competed in jumping at the national and North American level. During the 1960s and 1970s, Roger Codere was a significant contributor to the technical side of the sport of water skiing. When the World Technical Committee (now the Tournament Council) was expanded from three to nine members in 1974, Roger changed his role from being an advisor to the committee to signing on for a full membership. From 1975 to 1978 he acted as Chairman of the Committee.
Roger was always very active as a judge, serving at four World Championships and the 1972 Olympics. In 1975 he was accorded the honour of being Chief Judge for the World Championships at Thorpe Water Park in Surrey, England.
During the 1967 World Championships in his hometown of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Roger acted as the Assistant tournament chairman and Chief On-site Official. From 1977–78 he served a term as President of the Canadian Water Ski Association. In 1996 Roger was the second Canadian ever to be inducted into the IWSF Hall of Fame.
‘’Being an official and a member of technical committees at the international level was the career highlight for me,’’ said Codere. ‘’It gave me an opportunity to travel to many places around the world and meet so many great people. Water skiing is a people sport, there is always mutual cooperation along with the competition and that’s what has always kept me involved.’’