Sport

Turbo swimmers set sights on resumption of competition

OFF THE BLOCKS: The Turbos’ practice started in December with new competition blocks and ropes installed at Gillingham’s RiversMeet

No sooner had North Dorset Turbos’ Swimming Club planned its official club time-trials for late February when Lockdown 3 came along and “knocked that idea out of the water”, NDTSC head coach Rich Brocklehurst this week told The New Blackmore Vale. “Although we may not get there as soon as we’d all like, we can now at least see light at the end of the tunnel, with the progress of the national vaccination effort,” he said. “We have to be ready for what may feel like a relatively sudden resumption of competition later this year.” The sport’s governing body, Swim England, now says it can see a return to competitive action “on the horizon” as vaccinations roll out across the country. Rich said that Swim England is also working on a programme of possible events for 2021 as covid-19 restrictions are eased. “But there’s still no telling exactly when that will be,” he added. The Turbos will reschedule time trials for a few weeks after swimming restarts, hopefully in early spring, to give swimmers a chance to get back to their own personal peaks in the water. “As with last year’s lockdowns, how long that takes will very much depend on how much dry-side work they’re doing now. Listen up guys! “Thanks to the installation in December of starting blocks and anti-wave lane ropes at RiversMeet, we’ll be holding our club championships [time trials] there for the first time, rather than Port Regis.” Like other sports clubs the Turbos are completely dependent on volunteers, including parent helpers, and members’ monthly fees that range from just £24 for preTurbo beginners to £44 for the elite Performance Squad who would normally also train at Millfield’s 50-metre Olympic pool twice a month. “If the lockdowns have taught us one thing, it’s how important sport in general is for children’s well-being, and of course in our sport, swimming,” said Rich. “Some clubs simply ceased to exist after their operators failed to reopen – so once again we’re very glad to be in such a close partnership with RiversMeet. “For the sake of swimming generally, I’d wholeheartedly endorse what Swim England has been saying, which is that third lockdown round, pools must be allowed to reopen the second it’s safe. “In the near future we’ll be reaching out to school PE departments and families with an interest in swimming to build up our club, and get as many children as possible into organised sport, and eventually perhaps Dorset county championships and even regional contests.”

n Learn more about swimming in North Dorset at northdorsetturbos.co.uk

Take a social spin with Wincanton Wheelers in 2021

Wincanton Wheelers was established in 2017 by four people with a love for cycling. The idea grew from a belief that cycling should be for everybody, irrespective of age and ability and we welcome all types of pedal power. Whilst the majority of our members are road cyclists, it does not exclude those who have e-bikes, mountain bikes or hybrids. Rides are geared to accommodate everybody. We have two evening rides: Tuesday is for beginners: the ride is no more than an hour and as slow and steady as it needs to be. Thursday targets the faster rider with a Hare and Hound ride (the ‘hare’ sets off and the ‘hounds’ try to catch) around a short sixmile circuit. Saturdays are a social ride of about 25 miles and are very much for those who are able to cycle slightly longer distances but at a steady pace to suit everybody present. Sunday club runs are longer and quicker. The club has organised charity rides, birthday events at the recreation ground and day trips (riding the Isle of Wight; 100 mile rides, Weymouth). In future they aim to host events for juniors and youths to encourage the younger element of Wincanton into cycling by providing a safe environment to learn to ride. The club boasts numerous qualified first aiders; registered British Cycling Welfare Officers and accredited road race marshalls. It is also hoped that by the end of 2021 we will have our own qualified cycling coach.

By Steve Keenan

sport@blackmorevale.net Shaftesbury skier Lloyd Wallace is back on the slopes and on track to qualify for his second Olympics, the 2022 Games in Beijing. Lloyd, 25, has recently taken part in World Cup events in Belarus and Russia, competing in the Aerials discipline which involves a terrifying triple twist and somersault 50ft in the air. He made the finals on both days of the Russia event, held in -18C temperatures in Yaroslavl, four hours north of Moscow. All his results have been encouraging with a 15th, 12th and 11th place in the World Cup events so far. It means Lloyd is currently ranked 16th in the world. His parents, Robin and Jilly Wallace from Semley and former Olympians themselves, said: “These results are really solid and certainly puts him in good stead to qualify for next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. That would be amazing.” Lloyd has come a long way from Port Regis school, where Lloyd started his sporting career as a gymnast, coming ninth in the national championships when he was just 10. He gave up gymnastics at 13 and got into skiing whilst a student at King’s School, Bruton, and later turned his attention to acrobatic skiing. His parents encouraged Lloyd to try the somersaults he had learned at Port Regis gymnastics on the waterramp and on snow on a family holiday. He rose up through the ranks of national, and junior competitions to Europa Cup where he became the first Briton to ever win a Europa Cup aerials in 2015 with tripletwisting double somersaults. Moving up to World Cup level in 2016 he had to increase the complexity of his acrobatics and perform triple somersaults. At this stage he was invited to train with the Swiss team in summer and winter where aerials athletes practise their jumps on a dry ski slope ramp, landing in a swimming pool. Lloyd said: “My parents never needed to push me, I loved jumping from day one. Flying through the air is an incredible feeling. Scary sometimes but rewarding. Crashing is part of the sport, you need to be strong to avoid injury. I’ve taken plenty of crashes, and some days everything hurts, but no broken bones so far.” No broken bones maybe but Lloyd did have a nasty accident in August 2017 when he bashed his head on the water ramp and was pulled out of the water unconscious. He was placed into an induced coma and took four months to fully recover, only qualifying for his first Olympics, at Pyeongchang in South Korea, two weeks before the 2018 Games. After South Korea, Lloyd took two years off skiing to complete a Masters degree at the University of Bath before resuming training with the Swiss camp in the summer of 2020. “It was an unforgettable experience and absolute honour to represent Great Britain at the Winter

Olympics,” Lloyd said. “I wasn’t sure if I would continue to compete afterwards so I went back to study a Masters in Management and Finance. “Then I got a job as a sports agent at the sports marketing agency, Sports Sphere. We manage Olympic and Paralympic athletes and I’m working with some of TeamGB’s top athletes, some of whom were teammates from PyeongChang, which is awesome. “When the pandemic hit, the sports industry was affected pretty badly and ultimately I lost my job. So I used the opportunity to try again in Freestyle Skiing and I’m on track. I’m trying very hard to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, I have one year to go!” His ability to travel and train in 2020 was obviously curtailed by the pandemic

HIGH FLYER: Lloyd with a teammate, Swiss coach Mich Roth, dad Robin, mum Jilly and sister Elodie. Below: With the Great Britain team in South Korea in 2018

The ups & downs and the twists & turns of Olympic aerial ski star Lloyd Wallace

but thanks to an exemption for elite athletes, Lloyd was able to travel to Finland in December and Russia and Belarus last month, competing in the World Cup tour. “It was pretty tricky getting all the right paperwork, visas, invites and covid tests, and even then I had some worrying moments at checkin and on arrival in Moscow. I take about three covid tests a week. “But it was great to be able to travel and the Russians were very welcoming.” He is having to pay his own way, with no British team funding. Sleeping on the floor of a friend’s flat, or buying second-hand equipment is second nature –but he has the backing of his family all the way. His father Robin competed in freestyle skiing from 1981-89 and represented Great Britain at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. His mum Jilly scored 29 podium places and competed in two Olympic games –Albertville in 1992, where she placed fourth, and Lilliehammer in 1994. Robin went on to coach the British freestyle team for seven years, taking Lloyd as a baby to World Cup events. He told The New Blackmore Vale: “It’s really nice to see Lloyd enjoying this extreme sport in the same way Jilly and I did 30 years ago. “Being a fairly obscure discipline, you get to do it without the pressure and hype of other sports, you do it for yourself, and you meet the most amazing people from around the world doing the same thing. “They become lifelong friends.” Lloyd will be on the road again next month, taking part in more World Cup events in America and Kazakhstan. “It isn’t easy doing it on my own, there’s no British Team or coach for aerials and certainly no funding,” he says. “Sports Sphere has taken me back on as a remote sports agent to sell sponsorship for other athletes while I’m training and competing abroad, so I’m trying to juggle both at the same time!” Lloyd is looking for sponsorship to help him get to all qualifying events. The tour now goes on to Deer Valley in Utah and then Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the World Championships in March. “If anyone can help, please do get in touch with Lloyd –you can find him on Instagram at @lloydwal.

n Lloyd’s speciality is a triple twisting, triple somersault, which looks terrifying. You can see him action on YouTube.