Top five Euro for Sian

Editorial Department • Published 26 Aug 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Sian Hurst (centre) finished fifth in the European and African Championships.

WAKEBOARDING

Enniskillen’s Sian Hurst claimed a superb fifth place at the European and African Championships in Sweden recently.

The Irish wakeboard team that travelled to Sweden included David Coates (Belfast), Peter Stewart (Coleraine), David O’Caoimh (Dublin) and Fermanagh girl Sian Hurst.

In the Professional Woman’s category Sian was in a very difficult qualifying group and finished a close second, with the riders in her heat coming first and second in the final competition. “I was scared I would not yet be at the standard of the other pro women. However, after my first qualifying run, I was more confident to see that I was not only doing better than I anticipated, but I was up there with the best, being the only woman in Europe to land an off axis 540 in competition,” she stated.

Sian won her LCQ round 16 points head of the next rider. Unfortunately her final run was not as good as her qualifying rounds however, she still walked away with fifth place.

“I was so happy, to be in the top five women wakeboarders in Europe was a dream come true, and I now know I can compete at the very top, it was just unfortunate that I know I could have done better. However, being the first year in this category and taking a year off due to injury, I couldn’t have asked for any more,” said Sian.

The competition site was located in a small Swedish village called Fagersta, three hours North of Stockholm. With the weather much the same as home, the Irish fitted right in.

Three of the four in the Irish team made it through to finals, although a small team, the standard was high and the Irish still made double the noise.

In the pro men’s category David Coates fell during his LCQ run and damaged some ligaments in his ankle. Unfortunately he did not make it through to the finals. However, Peter Stewart the dark horse from Ireland came through to win the bronze medal. In such a highly competitive field of wakeboarders the competition was very close and a great division for the spectators to watch, it was anyone’s game that day.

David O’Caoimh had a great run in the qualifying of the junior men, he flew through to finals finishing on a consistent, clean run. David came home with the silver medal in his category, which was a great achievement for him. He still has two years in this category and so we are confident that with his incredible talent, he will be the one to beat next year.

Sian will now head to England to compete in the woman’s professional tour, and is talking to several new potential sponsors for 2011.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Aug 10

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