On Friday 27 January, a group of four Sixth Form girls, accompanied by the Head of Girls’ Games Mr Tom Walter, travelled to the French alps in order to compete in the British Schoolgirls’ Races, 2017.
Hannah Simonds-Gooding, Issy Webster, Georgia Gilbey and Eloise Harman all made the trip to the alpine resort of Flaine, France, to take part in the national competition. This was a landmark trip for Shiplake, as it marks the very first time that Shiplake has entered a ski team into a competition – and it was all-female! The British Schoolgirls’ Races cover two days of racing, with over 35 schools and 134 competitors travelling from all across the UK to take part in the competition. Historically, the event has been responsible for discovering future Olympic and Paralympic skiers. The event also allows girls to be part of a well-organised winter races on the snow, and gives them valuable competitive experience. Girls from all ages and levels attend to compete in the giant slalom and slalom races.
Having arrived in Flaine, the girls had a chance to train on the slopes for two days before racing began. The girls had a training session with instructor Pierre, before the competition began. Each school could enter a team of three girls, with one reserve. Mr Walter noted: 'All girls completed their first run of the giant slalom, with Issy posting an impressive 1.04 to put her in the top half. Georgia and Hannah also completed their second runs, which was incredible on their first ever race! Issy was unfortunately unable to make it down, as she was on course to post an even better time.'
The girls also took part in the slalom and parallel slalom. Mr Walter commented: ‘the girls had a tough draw in the parallel slalom, racing against Cheltenham College A team, but skied fantastically and finished just behind them. Despite Eloise, Georgia and Issy pushing Cheltenham to the final racer, they were knocked out. On the second day, the star performer was Georgia Gilbey who completed all of her runs and finished inside the 100 on the slalom! A big thank you to Mrs Simonds-Gooding, and Mrs Webster, for all of their help and support. I am really proud of how well the girls skied; they really gave it their all! It has been a great trip and I hope that this becomes a key event in the Shiplake calendar.’ British Schoolgirls' Races organiser Anne Taylor said: 'it is fantastic to see so many schools and so many aspiring
young female racers heading out to Flaine for the Races. They are a fantastic place for the girls to get a true feeling for what real Alpine racing feels like, as well as it being a fun event for all involved.'