Celia Kent may be 80 years old but she shows no sign of slowing down. The retired publisher from Islington in North London has set herself a tough challenge to celebrate her milestone birthday – swerving around buoys on a mono waterski as she takes on the slalom course at Chichester Water Ski Club in West Sussex.

Celia will be tackling the slalom on Ivy Lake on Saturday 15th June in a special event organised by the club. She travels there once a month to waterski, even though it can take her up to 3 hours to get there by road or rail from her home in Tufnell Park.

“The atmosphere is very friendly. I feel so welcome and they have been really nice to me,” Celia says. “That’s why I keep going. There are many closer places but they’re not the same. At Chichester they don’t look at me and wonder why I’m doing it at my age. There’s no pressure.”

Celia says she keeps herself fit with other activities to ensure she can continue slalom waterskiing, a sport that is very hard on the body at any age.

“I go to the gym and cycle there and back, I do two or three classes a week, I snow ski in the winter and I keep my weight down,” she says.

“I’m lucky to be fit and healthy. It could be in my genes. My mother will be 106 this weekend.”

One of the coaches who has been helping Celia prepare for the challenge is Brett Hodgkins who has several World, European and British titles in waterskiing and wakeboarding. He is now an international waterski and wakeboard coach and runs coaching clinics in the UK during the summer.

“Celia is as fit as a fiddle. Realistically, you would expect someone skiing at her level to be in her sixties. She’s a credit to us all,” Brett says. “From a coaching point of view, she’s very responsive but I’m always having to tell her to back off with the aggression she puts into her skiing - she really goes for it.”

During the big birthday event, Celia will take to the water at 2pm. In the evening, there were will refreshments, including pizza and birthday cake to celebrate Celia’s remarkable feat.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Media Invitation: The media are invited to attend Celia’s birthday ski on Saturday 15th June.

Location: Chichester Water Ski Club, Hunston Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 1NP (on the B2145).

If you intend to come along or need further information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk

Photos:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0p0yb9weg6tqy4t4f2blw/ADzoCEvHZSbWdMH1tuQ2jWE?rlkey=5g8vratnszv791422okb34c5n&dl=0

Slalom Waterskiing

In this discipline of slalom waterskiing, the boat travels at a constant speed in a straight line down the middle of a 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, rounding a series of buoys. In competition, there are entrance gates, six turn buoys and a pair of exit gates for the skier to negotiate.

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 waterskiing and wakeboarding across the UK from the grassroots to our top athletes.

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