More than 50 of the UK’s best waterskiers will compete at the British National Championships being held in Essex next week.

They will be showing off their skills in the three spectacular waterski disciplines of slalom, tricks and jump, vying to take the coveted title of National Champion.

Some of those taking part are as young as 10 and are relatively new to competitive waterskiing while others are long-time stalwarts of the sport. A handful will soon be heading to Italy to represent GB at the World Championships.

The British Open & Youth Nationals will be a great opportunity to watch and talk to some of the brightest talent in the sport in the picturesque setting of Gosfield Lakes near Halstead. The competition begins at 3pm on Wednesday 13th August (Under 21s only) and continues on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th.

The competitors include:

Brothers, 24-year-old Ben and 17-year-old Seb Turp, who both live and train at Gosfield. Ben will be representing GB in the Men’s Slalom competition at the forthcoming World Championships. Seb has recently returned from representing the country at the 2025 European Youth Waterski Championships in Spain and is a talented all-round skier, competing in all three events.

Sisters Issy (13) and Lara (11) Cosgrove from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. Issy is currently GB’s best young female waterskier. She won three gold medals and a silver at the 2025 European Youth Waterski Championships last month. Lara is closely following in Issy’s footsteps. Both have already broken several British records.

Buddy Carrington (12) from Brotherton, West Yorkshire. His phenomenal trick skiing earned him a bronze medal ahead of older rivals at the 2025 European Youth Waterski Championships.

Rob Hazelwood (26), a professional slalom skier who is also a prodigious talent in tricks and jump. He is the reigning British Champion in all three events and overall. He will be at the World Championships in Italy at the end of August. Rob is a member of the famous Hazelwood dynasty from Lincoln, which includes his uncle, the legendary Mike Hazelwood (a multiple World Champion and record holder from the 1970s and 1980s) and his cousin, Will Asher (a two-time World Champion slalom skier who is still competing and winning medals as a professional).

Arron Davies (26) from Bolton, Greater Manchester & Charlie Emmett (24) from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Both will compete in Men’s Slalom at the World Championships and both are regulars on the professional waterski circuit. Arron is a past British Champion in Men’s Slalom.

The organiser of the Championships, Vince Turp, said:

“We are looking forward to welcoming the UK’s best waterskiers to our beautiful lake and to hosting a major Championships for the first time since 2016 when we last held the British Championships. There’ll be food and drink on site and everything is set up for a great competition. We can’t wait for what is bound to be a fantastic spectacle of British waterskiing at its best.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Media who would like to attend the event, interview the participants or require more information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk

A selection of photos can be found in the dropbox link below. Please credit the photographers as shown.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/h9r449wq2joer1yy85one/AAjZ8UsdxCI4tBJxXP19qLw?rlkey=ac2z0yo7nlnugj9jss4cj8sol&dl=0

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 for the top skiers, 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 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.

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

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