Five girls and five boys have been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2026 Europe & Africa Youth Waterski Championships, which take place in Greece from 19 to 23 August.

The skiers are aged between 12 and 17 and include:

- Two athletes who have already won titles and multiple medals at European Championships

- Two other athletes who have won medals at European Championships

- Three siblings from Buckinghamshire

- Three athletes making their debut representing GB

There are two separate competitions at the Championships – one for the Under 14s and the other for the Under 17s.

The Under 17s include reigning European Champion Isabel Cosgrove (14) from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. At the 2025 Euros, when she was competing in the Under 14 Girls’ category, she won three gold medals (slalom, tricks and overall) and a silver medal (jump). Isabel, who is a pupil at Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire, will be joined in the Under 17s by her brother James, who will turn 17 just before the competition begins. Their sister, Lara (12) will compete in Under 14 Girls.

Harley Coster (16) from Camberley in Surrey, joins Isabel and James in the Under 17 team. Harley, who has just left Collingwood College, was the European Under 14 Boys’ Jump Champion in 2024. In the same year he won silver overall and bronze in both slalom and tricks.

The rest of the Under 17 squad is made up of Charlie Fearn (16) from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, who was a bronze medallist in Under 14 Boys’ Jump in 2023; Willow Skipsey (17) from Chichester, West Sussex; and Myla Roberts (15) from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, who will be making her Team GB debut.

Joining Lara Cosgrove in the Under 14s is Buddy Carrington (13) from Brotherton, West Yorkshire, who won bronze in the Under 14 Boys’ Tricks event at the 2025 Euros. Two Team GB debutants make up the team. They are Isabella Neale (12) from Malmesbury in Wiltshire and Etienne Barron (13) from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.

The squad will be accompanied by Team Captain, Ben Turp, who is a coach at Gosfield Water Ski Club in Essex.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The 2026 IWWF (International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation) Europe & Africa Youth Waterski Championships take place at Stratos Lake, Agrinio, Greece from 19 to 23 August. The full schedule, live scoring and results will be here: https://iwwfed-ea.net/classic/competitions/2026

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 ON THE CAPTION.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ojgc556mun9tlipcm5ca7/AGut3EwTWr0tUz-foERCjhY?rlkey=vpmlsnftadqacm213qvcs0wrr&dl=0

WATER SKIING EXPLAINED

Jumping

Waterski jumping is a spectacular high-adrenaline event which involves skiing on two skis over a ramp, 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

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. 2026 is our 75th anniversary.

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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