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Great Britain’s Freddie Winter is savouring the best moment of his life after winning the men’s slalom title at the 2023 World Waterski Championships on Sunday. There was also a silver medal in the Overall event for GB’s Joel Poland after he staged an incredible comeback.
Winter, the 33-year-old from Wandsworth in London, won the slalom gold medal in spectacular style on the final day of the Championships at Sunset Lakes in Florida, USA. It’s his second world title but his first since 2017 and is the climax of a phenomenally successful season which has seen him on the podium at every major competition he’s contested.
Winter paced up and down nervously as the last of the skiers in the 12-man final took to the water, unsure whether his score would hold. When the defending champion and world record holder, Nate Smith of the USA, failed to beat him, only Winter’s GB teammate and good friend, Joel Poland, stood in his way. Poland, whose slalom score in the preliminary round had been a massive personal best, could not repeat the feat in windy conditions. An emotional Winter threw himself into the lake before emerging to be mobbed by friends, family and supporters.
“Unbelievable, best day of my life. I’m so happy, I can’t tell you,” Winter said. “I worked so hard for this. For the last two months I couldn’t have done anything better I don’t think. I really tried and it paid off. I didn’t think it necessarily would. I’m so happy, I’m so happy.
“It’s a cliché but it’s a dream come true. Since I won in ’17 I wanted to win again so I could join the people who’ve won multiple times. There’s not many!”
Joel Poland (24) from Clapham in London is the Overall world record holder and went into these Championships as the defending Overall Champion. However, an early fall in the tricks event meant he faced a near-impossible task to retain the title. He would need big scores in the other two disciplines that make up the overall – slalom and jump. Few believed it was possible.
Perhaps it was the realisation that the Overall gold medal was almost certainly a lost cause that pumped Poland up for the slalom preliminary round. His big personal best – running a rope length that only a handful of slalom specialists have achieved in the history of the sport – closed the gap over the leader in the Overall, Louis Duplan-Fribourg of France.
In the jump preliminary round Poland leapt 68.8 metres off the ramp. By the end of the competition his combined scores were not quite enough for the gold and he had to settle for silver. He finished 6th in slalom, 11th in jump and 21st in tricks.
“I think that’s been one of the hardest pills to swallow this week of, you know, doing so well, being close, just missing out but, you know, I feel I gave it everything, I left it all out there,” Poland said. “My only real regret is obviously that I fell in trick, but apart from that I gave it everything. I’m feeling happy and proud.”
GB’s other finalist, Jack Critchley (27) of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, finished 5th in the men’s jump.
The GB Team of six athletes just missed out on a medal. They were 4th overall behind the USA (gold), Canada (silver) and France (bronze).
Among other impressive performances from the 14-strong squad were: Sanchia Outram (25) from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, who achieved personal best scores in slalom and jump and was close to her best in tricks; Jennifer Benjamin (31) from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, who achieved a PB in slalom and jump; and Katie Nutt (23) from Oxford who equalled her personal best in slalom.
The full GB squad was: Joel Poland (24) from Clapham, London (slalom, tricks, jump, overall, GB Team); Will Asher (41) from Lincoln (slalom); Freddie Winter (33) from Wandsworth, London (slalom); Tom Poole (27) from Abingdon, Oxfordshire (slalom); Jack Critchley (27) from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire (slalom, jump, GB Team); Jennifer Benjamin (31) from Abingdon, Oxfordshire (slalom, tricks, jump, overall, GB Team); Arron Davies (24) from Bolton, Lancashire (slalom); Charlie Emmett (23) from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (slalom); Sanchia Outram (25) from Worksop, Nottinghamshire (slalom, tricks, jump, overall, GB Team); Luke Outram (28) from Lincoln (slalom, tricks, jump, overall, GB Team); Katie Nutt (23) from Oxford (slalom); Rob Hazelwood (24) from Lincoln (slalom, tricks, GB Team); Harry Spavin (26) from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire (jump) ; Ben Turp (23) from Gosfield, Essex (slalom).
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Photos, video footage and interviews can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers as shown. More photos by Johnny Hayward are available through Getty Images.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/tk6uz23rau3t0ci5az5z4/h?rlkey=ph8urr80u2fqa2bpgahhvo0u0&dl=0
HD footage is available from The Waterski Broadcasting Company. Please contact Jane Peel on the contact details above for information on how to access it.
For more information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications in Florida (BST –5hrs) on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk
FREDDIE WINTER was born in Tooting in south London and now lives in Florida, USA. He studied business management at the University of London’s Royal Holloway College in Egham, Surrey, and has an MBA from the University of Louisiana. He trains in Florida, at Oxford Wakeboard & Ski Club in Dorchester-on-Thames in the UK and Greece. His first World Championship win was in Paris, France in 2017.
The 2023 IWWF World Waterski Championships were held at Sunset Lakes, Groveland, Florida, from 10th to 15th October. Full results can be found here: https://www.iwwfed-ea.org/classic/23IWWF13
WATER SKIING EXPLAINED
Slalom
The boat travels at a constant speed in a straight line down the middle of the slalom course. At elite level 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.
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 that matters is the distance travelled and a successful landing.
Tricks
The skier is given two 20-second passes to complete as many different tricks as possible. These can vary from a simple 180 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 correctly performed.
Overall
In overall competitions, 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.
The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the sport’s world governing body to which national organisations such as BWSW are affiliated.
