World Waterski Championships

From the 5th to 8th of January I competed as part of the British Waterski Team at the Junior World Waterski Championships in Chile. It is very rare to be competing in a major event in the middle of winter so preparation for this event was far from normal. I continued my full training schedule throughout the autumn before flying out to Florida for three weeks of training in the warm water. During this time my teammates and I lived and trained with the Canadian junior team before travelling to Chile five days before the competition started. We used this time to train and become accustomed to the competition lake as well as the temperature and altitude.

The competition itself ran for four days and consisted of a preliminary and final round of each discipline, slalom, trick and jump and I competed in all three events. International tournaments such as this are both individual and team events with each skier’s performance contributing to the team’s overall score. As a team, Great Britain finished ninth and in the individual competition, I finished sixteenth overall. Competing at this time of year is challenging for skiers in Northern America and Europe which is why, despite my scores being below my expectations, I was happy with my performance overall. Travelling and meeting people from different continents as well as seeing friends I’ve made previously, competing in Europe was very enjoyable and the entire experience in Chile was amazing.