IJSBA European Championships - 'Pink Lady' retains title

by Emma Slater on 28 Aug 2012 International Jet Sport Boating Association European Championships final round was held in Austria where Anya Colley, 20 from Long Eaton, has retained her title as European Champion.

Anya, known as the ‘Pink Lady’, has raced in Belgium, Portugal and Austria in the IJSBA European Championship tour and says she has had a great seasons racing this year although could have done without the added pressure in the last round!

Starting in Belgium in May, Anya got her European Championship campaign off to a flying start when she claimed pole position followed by wins in all three of motos.

The win in Belgium meant Colley headed into round two in Mirendela, Portugal (July), in a fantastic position and sights set on retaining her 2011 title.

'Mirendela is known as the hardest track you can ever race on in the Jet Ski Racing World. The race is held on the river and the high stone walls mean the track really chops up and so when you go down the long back straight it’s really rough and it is a case of getting down low and hanging on hard', Anya explained.

Despite the tough conditions Anya again had another great round, taking the pole position and all three moto wins once again. This meant that for the final round in Austria Anya needed to just finish in the top four to take the overall win.

But as always in racing anything can and usually does happen when you least expect it. In the first moto of the meeting Anya took the holeshot mark and was leading the race until disaster struck. Suffering a mechanical failure Colley was forced to settle for last place points. Now the pressure was really on.

Due to the mechanical breakdown Anya now needed a first and a second to secure the overall win. The breakdown was a serious mechanical issue and the ski was not repairable on site so now it was down to her back up ski and Anya’s skill, knowing there was no room for error.

Moto Two and Anya took the win which meant a third in the last moto would secure her title once more. But in true 'Pink Lady' style Anya wanted to really make sure the title was hers so took another win in the third and final moto, which meant that with eight out of nine moto wins the European Ladies title for 2012 stayed with Anya for another year.

Anya races most of her competitions against men but in Austria she competed against a strong fleet of ladies from Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Spain and Italy.

Anya’s next stop is the World Finals in Lake Havasu City, Arizona where she will compete for the Pro Ladies Title followed by the King’s Cup in Thailand in December.

Anya would like to say a massive Thank you to all her sponsors and supporters for the 2012 season.

RYA website