SUSO: December 2007 Archives
For UK wakeboaders Tom Watson, Lewis Cornwall, James Young and Lee Debuse their daily philosophy is one of total positivity and a sense of whatever it takes, I can do it. Each has a story that defines them – in some cases these are stories of pure imagination and creativity – in others the stories are of triumph over adversity – triumphs born of belief and single mindedness to stick at it even when it hurts. You've already heard Tom's incredible story, so time to introduce the rest of the crew.
Lee Debuse is a 19 year old with one of the biggest S-bends in the business. (That's like a big superman thing with a 360 spin to the most of us!). What many don’t know is that Lee has been a diabetic since the age of 7. He tells us ‘I’ve never let it stop me. I wasn’t a wakeboarder when I found out I was diabetic but I had this desire to express myself through this sport and as long as I keep on top of it with good self discipline and frequent check ups, I can continue to get out there and chase that big 7’.
Lewis Cornwall, for so long we knew him as Nick Davies’ crazy little friend. Well not anymore. Packing a huge amount of power into an atypically slight frame for a wakeboarder this boy is now writing his own history – already he has the 2007 Wake MK title to his name and 2008 brings great expectation. Lewis’s ‘double’ s-bends (Backflip with ... you're getting the picture!) and alround cable style are something to behold. Stepping out of the shadow of the current World Cable Champ is not easy but Lewis has the creative style and the determination to have done just that.
In recent weeks Lee, James and Lewis have been ripping it up at the London Boat Show at Earls Court. These 3 and the UK Wakeboard community as a whole are never ones to let the small issue of winter and sub zero temperatures get in the way when they want to ride. Especially when there's the opportunity to move the whole gig inside! Pulled by winches over sliders and ramps these guys have been getting their winter fix. A great idea and a real creative solution to the eternal enemy of the UK boarding community .. (the weather) .. and as Matt Crowhurst architect and executer of this recent Pool Gap venture simply put it, "build it and they will come."
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The Champions Award is presented by The Sunday Times each year to a sports person or team operating outside the spotlight of mainstream sports. Column inches are few and far between. These are the sports people who go unnoticed but who are no less remarkable than those routinely filling both back and front pages, and arguably more determined.
The absence of those trappings of fame leave these athletes pure and single minded in the pursuit of their dreams, and, for water skier Nicole Arthur, 20, this year’s winner and a sponsored SUSO athlete, it was very much a case of following a dream. It was her grandfather, Ian Arthur, who introduced the sport to Scotland in 1952 and set up the Slamannan Ski Club in the Forth Valley where Nicole still trains today. Water skiing in a Scottish loch? Do you know how cold it gets up there? You need to be pretty stubborn and a little bit mad to get in that water every single day - perhaps why Scotland is hardly renowned for its water sports - but Nicole is both and more. Despite the need for thick rubber suits, despite her age, and despite the fact that the winter darkness up north means finding the time to train with her coach and father (who himself won 18 consecutive Scottish Championships in the 70s) after work a little difficult to say the least, Nicole has been on a rampage of late, winning slalom titles at the British Open Championship, the British Under-21 Championships and the European Under-21 Championships. Then, to cap it all, she won gold at the World Slalom Championships in Austria two months ago, seeing off more experienced rivals who grew up and learned in somewhat warmer and more hospitable climates around the world (!).
It’s in specialist sports such as these, where the rewards are far less monetary and often far more personal, that you find people with the most creative and determined attitudes. There seems to be more to overcome, and if you do make it, only a specific demographic gets to hear about it. That’s why SUSO works with and is constantly looking for people like Nicole; you just know these people are doing it for all the right reasons (refreshing given the ongoing debate about the health of football in this country and the half hearted displays of ‘passion’ at Wembley). Nicole is one such person, and the awards she’s earned are testament to all those years spent bobbing up and down in a half frozen loch.
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