Fairweather wins All England again seven years on

The 36th All England Championships, sponsored by Aosta Race Academy.

The field may not have been as big as in previous years but the rush of late entries has seen one of the past members and top snow racers attracted to the race. Sega Fairweather was just one of the late entries for the race but showed her fellow racers that talent is inherent yet desire is something that comes from within.  Seven years ago as a rising star of British skiing, Fairweather had won the All England title. Since 2004 many have come into the sport wanting to follow in her footsteps but rarely has the talent been seen that could go on to bigger things. With winner of the last three All England Championships, Emily Evans, not racing, the late entry of Fairweather meant that she was the racer to beat. The challenge would come from Charlotte Gould, Charlotte Davies and Sarah Lambden. 

Fairweather started third down the slope and it was immediately obvious that she hers would be the time to beat. Could anyone get closer to her? Fairweather attacked from the moment she went through the wand at the start to the moment that she crossed the line at the bottom. Far too many of her fellow racers seemed to give up as they approached the last few gates having made a mistake earlier on.  Fairweather’s first run was by no means clean but she did not let the small matter of a mistake stop her from trying to get to the finish as quick as possible.

Sarah Lambden was next best after the first run and managed to get to within two hundredths of the former top snow racer who is now coaching for Evolution. With Charlotte Davies in third after the first run and Charlotte Gould in fourth, the top four were separated by a mere eleven hundredths of a second – a great advert for the closeness and competitiveness of the racing!

While the girl’s race did not experience as high a casualty rate as the men’s, ten racers saw their hopes evaporate on the first run set by Sally Bartlett.  Course inspection is always vital yet many still seem to see it as a chance to have a blether and not focus on what to do.

Alex Bullock was the first of the recognised racers to go on the second run. Bullock had been considered an outside bet for the race yet a poor first run littered with mistakes had seen her drop almost two seconds off the pace down in 23rd place. Her second run was much better and saw her take and hold the lead. Into the top fifteen starters for the second run and Bullock was still there holding the lead but for how much longer could she?

Ella Slater from Aldershot, starting in 14th spot, was the person to knock her off the lead. Slater had an advantage of over half a second on Bullock but lost a tenth of that on the second run. She still had enough to post a faster aggregate time. With just five hundredths separating the four racers, it was all or bust for Slater, Shrimpton, Hallett and Brown.  First Slater took the lead, then Shrimpton edged into the lead; Hallett blinked and dropped to the back of this queue before last of the quartet, Ellen Brown sneezed and dropped way off the pace.  Polly Shailes with a meagre advantage of a six hundredths over Shrimpton could not live with the speed of the Telford racer and Shrimpton kept the lead going into the top ten racers from the first run.

On her home slope and determined to do well, Sophie Skipper ended Shrimpton’s time in the lead with a solid run and held onto the lead after Fern barker had been down; Barker demoting Shrimpton to third overall. Seven to go.

Alice Hales increased her advantage over Skipper to take the lead before Steph Davies made a mess of things and dropped down the finishers. With five to go would her time hold up?

Sophie Ogden has been one of the talents to emerge this summer and her fifth place after the first run further enhanced her reputation.  Sadly her second run was not of the same calibre as the first run and she dropped down to behind Skipper.

The final four racers were very tightly knit and it would a brutal fight to the end. Going first of the final four was Charlotte Gould. Gould had the advantage in that she could put the pressure on the rest of the group by posting a fast time. After winning the Grand Prix Series, Gould was determined to add the All England title to her results this year. Her second run was proof that when she believes in herself she can do well. It would be great for her if she could keep this confidence week in week out, on snow as well as plastic. Gould took the fight to the rest and posted a time half a second faster than Hales’s previous fastest time. This was game on.

Charlotte Davies was making her summer racing debut on the matting and while her first run had not been a classic she was still in with a shout of winning the race she last won in 2009.  Sadly the pressure of the situation saw her buckle on the top half of the race and she was out. Three to go.

Sarah Lambden has proved on her day that she can live with any of the current dry slope racers. With a deficit of just two hundredths behind Fairweather, this was an encouraging performance.  With an advantage of eight hundredths over Gould, she knew that she had to clean and fast yet she struggled in the middle section and by the time she straddled the second last gate and crossed the line slower than Gould, it was over for this year.

So could the Grand Prix Champion hold on to beat the 2004 All England Champion? As the last racer stood in the start gate, this was the scenario.  Fairweather or Gould would win the 2011 All England title. 

Fairweather showed that she can still mix it despite rarely skiing on the matting. Determination mixed with power, strength and superior technique saw her carve out a time over four tenths faster than Gould. This was raising the bar and showing the rest of the field just how much work they still have to do if they want to be considered in the same breath as some of the past greats of dry slope skiing: Baggio, Ryding and as far back as Michelle Palmer.

The age group podiums were as such:

Children 1

  1.  Ella Ward
  2.  Alexandra Lillywhite
  3.  Millie Jackson

Children 2

  1. Annie Usher
  2.  Francesca Lee
  3.  Jessica Spanton

Junior 1

  1. Sophie Skipper
  2.  Sophie Ogden
  3.  Georgia Hallett

Junior 2

  1. Charlotte Gould
  2.  Alice Gales
  3.  Charlotte Shrimpton

Senior

  1. Sega Fairweather
  2.  Fern Barker
  3.  Ella Slater

Masters

  1. Viv Hanson

Overall

  1. Sega Fairweather
  2.  Charlotte Gould
  3.  Alice Hales

Full results of the 36th All England Championships

Please send me pictures from the racing (click here)

Men’s report

Mini’s report

Team event

Reflections on The All England

What happened in 2010: Men; Women; Mini; Team

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