Isabel Cosgrove, a teenager from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, won an impressive three gold medals and one silver at Europe & Africa Youth Waterski Championships in Spain at the weekend. There was also a bronze for 12-year-old Buddy Carrington from Brotherton, West Yorkshire, and a Team bronze.

Isabel, known as Issy, was the star performer among seven talented British waterskiers, who put in a great team effort in both the Under 14 and Under 17 categories at the Championships, held at Botaski in Seseña, near Madrid in Spain. The results were enough to earn them the Overall U14 and U17 Team bronze.

Issy, a pupil at Berkhamsted Girls’ School in Hertfordshire, equalled two of her previous personal best scores on her way to taking three European titles. In the Under-14 Girls’ category, she was victorious in slalom, tricks and overall and won silver in jump.

These are the first European titles for Issy, who won bronze in Under 14 Girls’ slalom at last year’s Euros.

Issy Cosgrove said:

“I’m honestly over the moon. Winning gold in tricks, slalom and overall, plus silver in jump, is more than I ever imagined. It’s been an intense few days, but everything just came together. I’ve put so much into training this year and to see it happen here at the Europeans at Botaski is something I’ll never forget. I’m so proud of how I skied and really grateful for all the support from everyone around me.”

GB’s other individual medal was won by Buddy Carrington. The 12-year-old is a pupil at Sherburn High School, Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire. He went into the final of the Under 14 Boys’ tricks event as the fourth seed. But a combination of Buddy’s solid skiing - improving on his preliminary round score - and mistakes by two of the higher seeded skiers put him on the podium.

Buddy Carrington said:

“It feels amazing to come away with a bronze at the European Championships. I’ve trained so hard for this and to see it all pay off here in Spain is just incredible. The competition was tough, but I stayed focused and gave it everything I had. This is a moment I’ll never forget.”

There were other notable performances among the GB Team. Harley Coster (15) from Camberley in Surrey, only moved up into the Under-17s this year and was unlucky to miss out on a medal in slalom, where he finished fourth. The Collingwood College student made the finals in all three events, finishing fifth in jump, seventh in tricks and fifth overall. His results were particularly impressive considering he’d been back in training for less than three weeks after breaking his ankle twice and undergoing surgery.

Isabel Cosgrove’s younger sister, Lara Cosgrove (11), who will start at Berkhamsted Girls’ School in September, made the final of the Under 14 Girls’ slalom and finished eighth.

Seb Turp (16) from Gosfield, Essex and a student at Colchester Institute, made the Under 17 Boys’ finals in both tricks (finishing sixth) and jump (11th). He was sixth overall.

Charlie Fearn (15) of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and a pupil at Bradfield School, Sheffield made the final in Under 17 Boys’ jump where he finished ninth.

The final member of the team whose scores contributed to the Overall Team bronze was Willow Skipsey (15) of Chichester, West Sussex.

The seven British waterskiers were among 123 athletes from 22 countries who participated in The 2025 Europe & Africa Youth Waterski Championships, which took place from 16 to 20 July.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The full results of the Championships can be found here. https://www.iwwfed-ea.org/classic/25EURO06

Photos of the athletes can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers as shown on the images.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/67e7v992kdy1myfok7oph/AIdUaFtzuDYKQuLD9LTv4uY?rlkey=5udfxo5v9l1011xqc63vzhx3a&dl=0

For more information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk

WATER SKIING EXPLAINED

Jumping

Water ski jumping is a spectacular high-adrenaline event which involves skiing on two skis over a ramp at speed, taking off and landing on the water to ski away. There are no style points. All the matters is the distance travelled and a successful landing.

Slalom

The boat travels at a constant speed in a straight line down the middle of the slalom course. The skier, on a single ski, has to go through the entrance gates - a pair of buoys in the middle of the course - then virage from side to side across the boat wakes, successfully rounding six turn buoys before going through the exit gates.

Each successful pass results in the rope being shortened, making it increasingly difficult to reach the turn buoys. Eventually, the rope length becomes less than the distance from the boat to the turn buoys so the skier has to use body length and reach to round the buoys. The winner is the skier who completes the most turn buoys at the shortest rope length.

Tricks

The skier is given two 20-second passes to complete as many different tricks as possible. These can vary from a simple 180 degree turn to a somersault with a twist. There are also ‘toehold’ tricks where the skier holds the rope with one foot. Each trick is worth a given number of points according to difficulty. Points are awarded only if the tricks are deemed to have been successfully performed.

Overall

The skier competes in all three separate disciplines of slalom, tricks and jump and the combined scores in each contribute to an overall score.

British Water Ski & Wakeboard (BWSW) is the sport’s national governing body and a non-profit making membership organisation. All its income is invested in developing and protecting water skiing and wakeboarding across the UK from the grassroots to our top athletes

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