A large contingent of wakeboarders is off to France to represent Great Britain at the Europe & Africa Wakeboard Boat Championships, which take place next week. Twenty GB riders, aged 12 to 58, will compete in Toutainville in Normandy.

They include twins, Ross and Rich Phillips (40) who are longstanding Team GB squad members and who first competed for their country in 2014. Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Ross - now living in Lincoln - and Rich, from Corby in Northants, will compete in the Masters Men category. They will be joined by Ross’s son, Ollie (12), competing in the Boys’ category.

Another pair of siblings to make the squad are Charlie (16) and Isabelle (14) Lloyd from Burntwood in Staffordshire. Despite their youth, the pupils at Erasmus Darwin Academy already have experience at major international competitions. They represented GB two years ago at the 2022 World Championships and at the 2023 Euros.

Thirteen-year-old Marley O’Toole from Camberley, Surrey, is unique in the team. He is the only rider who is in both the boat and cable wakeboard GB squads. He is the reigning Boys’ National Champion in both boat and cable disciplines. He will compete at the Euros in the Boys’ category.

The team is captained by Travis Beaton (23) from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, who will be among 5 GB riders in Open Men. The team manager is Jeremy Nevill from Portishead, Somerset.

FULL GB SQUAD

Open Men: Travis Beaton (23) from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; Olli Loder (19) from Bournemouth, Dorset; Callum Smith (26) from Malmesbury, Wiltshire; Scott Lees (27) from Chichester, West Sussex; Jody Elliot (24) from Ellingham, Hampshire.

Open Women: Charlotte Millward (28*) from Stafford, Staffordshire; Melissa Lock (23) from Thurmaston, Leicestershire; Ruby O’Dwyer (19) from Chichester, West Sussex.

Boys: Ollie Phillips (12) from Lincoln, Lincolnshire; Marley O’Toole (13) from Camberley, Surrey.

Girls: Isabelle Lloyd (14) from Burntwood, Staffordshire.

Junior Men: Charlie Lloyd (16) from Burntwood, Staffordshire; Jake Williams (17) from Reading, Berkshire.

Masters Men: Jack Palmer (37) from Wokingham, Berkshire; Aran McGuckin (31) from Madrid, Spain.

Masters Men 2: Rich Phillips (40) from Corby, Northamptonshire; Ross Phillips (40) from Lincoln, Lincolnshire.

Masters Women 2: Kate Waldron (44) from Ascot, Berkshire.

Senior Men: Mark Goldsmith (51) from Paignton, Devon; Mark Osmond (58) from Elstead, Surrey.

*Please note that Charlotte Millward is currently 28 but will be 29 by the time the competition begins.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The IWWF (International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation) 2024 Europe & Africa Wakeboard Boat Championships will take place from Wednesday 28 August to Saturday 31 August.

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

Photos can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers where shown. Should you need more, please contact Jane.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qk89580u5t70kjvkz183z/AKxN7YAAXX5RnWtCSe0gtFs?rlkey=25ex8utcxzb36vbfitcsgb51q&dl=0

Boat Wakeboarding

It is like a combination of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing. The rider performs tricks over two runs while being towed by a boat. Judges watching from the boat determine the score, which is based on a number of criteria including height, style and difficulty of the tricks successfully performed. The highest score wins. (The other type of wakeboarding is cable wakeboarding where riders use a cable tow and perform tricks over obstacles or features at a specially designed wake park).

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.

The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the sport’s world governing body to which national organisations such as BWSW are affiliated.

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