Eight young British waterskiers are heading to Austria to represent their country at the European Under-21 Championships. The competition takes place at Waterski Vienna, on the outskirts of the Austrian capital, from 20 to 22 August.

It’s a busy time for the athletes. Most in the squad for the Europeans have recently returned from Canada where they represented GB at the World Under-21 Waterski Championships near Calgary. Then, earlier this week, they competed at the 2025 British National Championships in Essex, picking up a stash of titles and medals between them.

Medals at the European Championships will be awarded in each of the individual three waterski events (slalom, tricks and jump) and overall for those skiers who compete in all three events. Team medals are also awarded.

GB’s Under 21 Squad at the European Championships:

Tom Parkin (20) from Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Tom is studying Business Management at the University of Lincoln. He will compete in slalom, tricks and jump. Tom is the 2025 British Under 21 men’s overall champion after winning gold in jump and tricks and bronze in slalom.

Will Shanahan (20) from Worthing, West Sussex. Will is studying Geography and Natural Hazards at Coventry. He will compete in slalom, tricks and jump. He is the 2025 British Under 21 overall silver medallist after winning silver in jump and slalom and bronze in tricks.

Noah Pollard (19) from King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Noah is studying on a waterski scholarship at the University of Louisiana Monroe in the USA. He will compete in slalom, tricks and jump.

Lilli Deste (20) from Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Lilli is studying Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham. She will compete in slalom, tricks and jump. She is the 2025 British Under 21 women’s overall champion after winning gold in jump, silver in tricks and bronze in slalom.

Harrison Crossland (18) from Fairford, Gloucestershire. Harrison has just left Rendcomb College, Cirencester, and will be going to university in the autumn to study law. He will compete in slalom and tricks. He is the 2025 British Under 21 men’s silver medallist in tricks.

Molly Lee (21) from Putney, London. Molly is studying Marine Biology at Portsmouth University. She will compete in slalom and tricks. She is the 2025 British Under 21 women’s tricks champion and silver medallist in slalom.

Jessie Schute (21) from Haslemere, Surrey. Jessie is competing in slalom as a wildcard. She is the 2025 British Under 21 women’s slalom champion.

Anna Morris (21) from Alnwick, Northumberland. Anna is a student at University College London and will be competing in slalom as a wildcard.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The categories in which riders compete are determined by their age on 31st December 2024.

Photos can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers as shown.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/veyedcyq9j7t1duca7pam/ADidFcagj0CTajn10GazLJM?rlkey=tmbonhqblk1ujoxbr1praekod&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 speeds of up to 70mph, 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. At the speed is 58kph (36mph) for men and 55kph (34mph) for women. 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 the 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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