Hemel Hempstead brother and sister continue to flourish in wakeboarding with world championship win

A brother and his sister from Hemel Hempstead are taking the world of wakeboarding by storm.

Both Samuel and Summer Bradbury from Gadebridge represent Team GB at youth level in the water sport.

Samuel, 15, achieved the ultimate accomplishment at that level when he became the Under 18 World Champion.

The Laureate Academy student now hopes to join the professional ranks next year as he continues his ascension on the water.

Summer, 12, who attends the John F Kennedy Catholic School, is no slouch either, she recently finished fourth in the under 14 category.

Both are set for an exciting summer travelling across mainland Europe competing in international competition.

Next up for the gifted youngsters is a full-time training camp in Lithuania where they will get an extended chance to hone their craft and perfect their on-board skills.

Not only is the school break the perfect time for the Hemel prospects to put school work to one side it is also the period when the most tournaments are on.

They will both be competing against the UK’s best young boarders at the UK National Wakepark Championships next month.

Samuel turned to wakeboarding as he and his father, John, felt he needed a break from football six years ago.

He was a promising junior, but the heightened atmosphere at high-level youth football had put the pair off, as other parents were often taking things a little too seriously.

Samuel splits his time training between Box End Park in Bedford and Liquid Leisure in Windsor.

His preferred style of the sport is cable wakeboarding, in which riders use a cable tow and perform tricks over obstacles or features at a specially designed wake park.

John calls, Summer, a natural, her background in gymnastics and trampolining gave her the perfect base for a sport which relies heavily on balance and agility.

Another exciting trip in the brother and sister’s diary is a journey to Budapest for the European Championships in late August.

Both are set to complete their schooling in Hertfordshire and assess their options from there as wakeboarding remains a part time sport, even international athletes do not receive central funding from the Government.