How is it possible for a Surbiton High pupil to be competing at top international ski races? We discover a story of determination, dedication and uncompromising effort from one of our pupils who has climbed to the top.
The route to long-term success in alpine ski racing is not through short-term wins, but is via the formation of a broad skills base, developing the ability to adapt and react to whatever the hill throws at you. As the pool of alpine athletes is small in the UK, success for Great Britain can’t be a numbers game where the best natural talent is picked from a large cohort. Instead, results come from a methodical process of training and skill development. The perception of ski racing being a glorification of ski holidays for the privileged few is a long way from the truth. Like so many other sports, ski racing requires fitness, strength, quick reactions and hard-earned skills. The pictures are taken on the good days, the hard work happens every day.
Following selection to the English Alpine Ski Team earlier this year and recently, her selection onto the British Team, Freya T has just returned from her first international races representing Great Britain. We caught up with her in between her Year 10 exams to understand how she has managed to balance her schooling at Surbiton High School with her sporting success.
Freya tells us that she started skiing early in life, Freya speculates, “This may have developed my love for skiing and the mountains, something has kept me putting my skis on day after day as the training itself is often wet, cold and frustrating. It is certainly not fun all the time.” When asked about her achievements, a wide smile creeps across Freya’s face offering a glimpse of what turns someone into an elite athlete. Freya reflects “There is always something to work on, always someone to look up to, representing Great Britain has been my long-term goal, but with that achieved, I have these exams and then back to training in order to achieve the next goals on my list”. The drive for constant improvement, and part of the reason Freya is where she is, becomes clear.
On her biggest challenges, Freya describes a ski season lost during COVID, variance in physical development between athletes in her age category and the self-induced pressures on race days resulting in small mistakes that prevented her selection last year.
The attractions are easy to see, but what compromises have there been? “Three years ago, I had to decide between keeping up hockey and netball, or winters in the Alps with long periods away from my family, friends and Surbiton High”. Freya spends about 30 weeks a year outside of the UK with a ski academy, Team Evolution. She spent a month last summer in Chili sandwiched between weeks inside snow domes. Her winters are based in Austria with travel around the Alps for races.
The balance between sporting achievement and schoolwork is an obvious question, clearly one that Freya has been asked many times. “My ski academy has dedicated tutors and a school liaison to fully support my schooling. We don’t get to ski or go to the gym if the schoolwork is not finished. I liaise with my teachers and get the lesson content to study remotely with my tutors. The School have been amazing. Miss Archbold (Head of Skiing) very kindly co-ordinates and helps massively with the liaison.” Freya goes on to explain how the team philosophy is simple, “anyone determined to do the very best they can in sport, must also have the same approach to their schoolwork and schooling always comes first.”
With so much skiing, how is there time for schoolwork? “Each day starts at 6.30 am at the latest (if we are training for the faster Supper G races, we need the slopes to ourselves, so it is a 5 am start). After 4 or 5 hours of training, we have a quick lunch and spend the afternoons in a nearby Austrian school with the tutors. In the evenings, we go to the gym, review the morning’s training through video analysis with our coaches and prepare our skis for the following day. My Surbiton teachers very kindly agree to check-in calls and these are often in the evenings as well. The days are packed but you get used to it, after dinner, I try and make a quick call home if there is time.”
How was it representing GB and how did you get on? “It was an amazing experience, the opening parade where countries from around the world are represented really brings it home that you are representing your country amongst the best in the world. I had a couple of strong finishes in the slalom races and a podium spot in the Giant Slalom which is something special, especially for a British athlete. Unfortunately, the Super G race got cancelled as the snow was not safe, climate change is a real problem for the sport, this is my strongest discipline, I will never know how that would have gone. With the rest of the GB team also doing well, we finished 2nd overall, which is amazing for a country that has almost no snow. But ultimately the results are not something I can control, if someone else is better, good on them. I was pleased with how well I skied and that is what matters to me.”
Freya is now amongst a very small group of the best young athletes in the UK recognised for their abilities and this is a well-deserved reward for all that she has dedicated to her chosen sport and her ongoing studying with Surbiton High School.
So what next? “This season is my last in the under-16 age category, next year would be a significant move to the open adult category and with it being my GCSE year it’s going to be a challenge. Every year I make a decision to continue or not, it’s not easy, this is definitely true for next year. I could choose a normal life, however, somehow, I don’t think that is for me anymore. There are opportunities to work towards, the Youth Olympics and the World Youth Championships. None of this would have been possible without the immense support of Surbiton High and all my teachers from Prep School upwards. All of the efforts to help me achieve my dreams are very much appreciated. Thank you.”