A talented 15-year-old Team GB waterskier from Gosfield in Essex has been showcasing his skills on the water this summer with success at both the British Nationals and the European Youth Championships.

Seb Turp, a year 11 pupil at the Ramsey Academy in Halstead, has just returned home with a stash of medals from the British National Championships, which took place at Oxford Wakeboard & Ski Club in Dorchester-on-Thames over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Although this is his first year competing in the Under 17 age category, having just moved up from Under 14s, he achieved phenomenal results, picking up three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

Seb can now take pride in being the British National U17 Boys’ Champion in Slalom, Jump and Overall and the silver medallist in the third waterski discipline of Tricks.

To cap it all, Seb took the bronze medal in Open Men’s Overall with scores that matched some of the best waterskiers in the country, among them some who compete professionally.

Earlier in August Seb headed to Spain to represent his country at the European Youth Waterski Championships. Although up against many older competitors with vast experience in the sport, he still managed to qualify for two finals and finished an impressive 8th Overall. Seb also recorded two personal bests at the competition - in both the jump and trick events - having already got a PB in slalom earlier in the year.

“I was really pleased with how I skied at the Nationals. It’s great to come away with some titles but I’m chuffed with my slalom gold and the Open Men’s bronze. The Europeans was a great experience that I hope I can build on next year. I’m particularly pleased to have been able to jump further than I have before and to improve my tricks points.”

Vince Turp, Seb’s dad and coach, said he was delighted with his son’s results.

“I’m proud of what he’s done and continues to do. He works really hard and has made a big progression this year,” Vince said. “Seb is showing great maturity, huge focus and determination against amazing competitors.”

Seb along with his older brother Ben (23) and grandad Carl (80) will be competing in the UK for the last time this season at his home base, Gosfield Lake, where he both lives and trains with his family. The competition takes place on 16th and 17th September. Entry is available to spectators and there will be food and drink on site.

Seb is hoping to continue his great form at the event and boost his chances of being selected to represent GB at the World Under 17 Youth Waterski Championships in Calgary, Canada, next July.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

For more information, please contact Jane Peel, British Water Ski & Wakeboard Head of Communications on 07802 496927 or jane@bwsf.co.uk

To arrange an interview with Seb, please contact Emma Turp on 07798 675970 or emma@theturps.co.uk

Gosfield Lake can be found at Gosfield Lake Resort, Gosfield Lake, Gosfield. CO9 1UD

Seb is one of many Turps involved in waterskiing at a high level. His older brother Ben (23) is in the GB Open Waterski Team and will be competing at the Open World Championships in the USA in October. Ben won silver medals in slalom at the 2020 and 2021 European Under-21 Waterski Championships and was a member of the GB Under-21 team that won gold at the World Championships in 2019. Sister Tilly (20) has also competed at a high level and, when not at University, drives and coaches waterskiing at Gosfield Lake, along with Ben, Seb and their dad, Vince, who is an international competition driver.

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 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 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.

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