You will recall we helped a team of adaptive water-skiers reach their dream opportunity”, of competing at the World Disabled Waterski & Wakeboard Championships. With one gold medal and 4 bronze medals the British team comprising, Duncan, Marta, Sophie and Claire returned full of success and with an amazing experience from their first challenging, exciting and competitive games.
The championships took place at the end of July 2019 in Skarnes, Norway. They competed against the best from the world of disabled waterski & wake-boarding. Their dedication, training and hard work (both as individuals and as a team) shone through. They proudly returned with one gold medal and 4 bronze medals, as well as being placed third overall in the competition. All are truly amazing achievements, given that they were a small independent squad of mostly “rookies” matched up against over 20 experienced teams with a number of the teams such as the USA and Australia having teams with 25 experienced competitors
In the lead up to the event, all of the team trained very hard with significant help from Claire Ellis a former world champion. They were determined to make it to the championships and perform at their best. When they weren’t on the water, they were loudly cheering on their teammates. They were incredibly inspired by, what Marta described as a great atmosphere within a great supportive community. “It was such a privilege to watch and meet some incredible skiers,” said Sophie, all of whom were ready to share tips, techniques and their experience. That inspiration and their own dedication has them already setting their sights on the next competitions, with the European Championships in 2020 and the World Championships in 2021 in Australia. Though, fuelled by their success, Marta has already gone on to compete and win gold in the new adaptive sitboarding discipline at the Nautique Masters Wakesurf Championships in Georgia, USA.
