International Success
A history of International success as at Winter 2021 . . .
| Discipline | History |
| Waterski | British Waterski Skiers have won a very impressive array of medals totalling 106 European and World Championship medals since 1990 (42 Gold, 30 Silver and 34 Bronze). This commendable history of achievement places Team GB at the pinnacle of success on the world stage. The World Championships in Slalom (held bi-annually) have been won by British Skiers 8 times since 1990: Andy Mapple OBE in 1995,1997,1999 and 2001; Will Asher in 2005 and 2007; Nicole Arthur in 2009 and Freddie Winter in 2017. British skiers have also won Silver and Bronze medals at multiple World Championships. The World Record in Men’s Slalom was held by Andy Mapple from 1998 to 1996 and then again from 1998 to 2005. Joel Poland set two new World Records in Men’s Overall (a combination of Slalom, Tricks and Jump) in 2021. The European Record in Women’s Slalom was held by Nicole Arthur from 2010 to 2015 and the European Record in Men’s Slalom has been held continuously by British Skiers since 1988 to date. Andy Mapple held the record form 1988 until 2014 when Freddie Winter equalled it. In 2016 Freddie Winter set a new European record which still stands today. |
| Cable Wakeboard |
Although a young sport and with European and World Championships only running since 1992, GB has excelled with 41 Gold and 44 Silvers. Nick Davies has been the only male athlete to win Gold at the Cable Wakeboard Worlds twice whilst also winning Gold several times at the Euros. Kirsteen Mitchell and Chloe Goudie were so far the most successful British female athletes within Cable Wakeboard both taking home Gold at the Worlds and Euros. |
| Boat Wakeboard |
Boat Wakeboad was an adaption of something created by Tony Finn ihn 1985; Skiboarding. O'Brien, a leading water ski manufacturer, took an interest in advancing the sport in the late 1980s. Before long he changed the wakeboard industry by introducing the first compression-molded neutral-buoyancy wakeboard, the Hyperlite. This innovation led to a massive growth in wakeboarding. The British Wakeboard team won their first Gold in 2000. There have been a total of 35 Gold and 36 Silver medals won since. |
| Barefoot | In 1971, the British Barefoot Club was officially formed by the British Water Ski Federation. Before that, barefooting in the UK was a rare and elitist art, mostly seen as demonstrations
during classic water ski tournaments. Prominent amongst the pioneers was Charles Ramsey, a KLM airline pilot, who won the fitst ever competition held in Europe, on August 11th, 1968. A team from Great Britain entered the first World Barefoot Championships in 1978, finishing in fourth place. The Open Barefoot Team won Gold in 1976, 1978 - 1991, 1995, 2004 - 2010. The Junior Team won Gold 1992 - 1994, 1997, 2001, 2003 - 2006, 2010 and 2011. The British Senior Team won Gold in 2010. David Small won his first Gold in 1999 (junior overall) and has continued to win many Gold medals since. David has won 19 Open World Champion titles and 18 Region EA Open titles including 5 overall. Chris Harris was the Start methods & Slalom world record breaker in 1982. Mike Thomas is a 13 times National Champion including 3 overall. |
| Ski Racing | Ski Racing won their first Silver medals in 1979 by Kim Gooding and Bill Rixon. Their first Gold was won by Liz Hobbs MBE in 1981. Liz took home Gold once again in 1983. Liz was the most successful British Ski Racer in the 80's, with Kim Lumley becoming the most successful female skier in the 90's. There were 5 European Championship medals won. In terms of the Worlds, Racing have won 9 Gold, 10 Silver and 12 Bronze. |
| Cable 3 | The first Gold to be won was by Lisa Adams in 2000 at the Worlds. Cable 3 have taken home a total of 26 Gold medals since and 28 Silver. |
