Vaulter is victorious in Germany
Current senior female European Vaulting Champion, Joanne Eccles from Tillicoutry in Scotland, continued her run of great results and took the individual female title at the Wiesbaden Vaulting Masters CVI in Germany this weekend (22 – 23 May), for the second year running.
Using her own horse WH Bentley, lunged by her father John Eccles, Joanne (21), finished on a impressive score of 8.970, ahead of AntJi Hill and Simone Wiegele from Germany.
Joanne said: “I’m really pleased with my performance, especially as the World Equestrian Games (WEG) isn’t far off now. I’m keen to maintain my form in the lead up to Kentucky so I think it’s really important to compete at these kind of competitions as the standard is very high – the two German girls who came second and third are also competing at WEG. It’s also good to compete in front of different judges and I’m looking forward to next week’s competition in Belgium.”
Hannah Eccles, Joanne's sister finished an impressive fourth, just behind the two Germans on a final score of 8.443. Both girls now head straight to Belgium for the new international CVI there next weekend where they will compete in both the individual class and the Pas de Deux together.
A World Equestrian Games includes the eight disciplines of dressage, eventing, showjumping, para-equestrian dressage, driving, endurance, reining and vaulting. A World Champion will be crowned in each of these disciplines.
The Olympic and Paralympic sports are generously supported by lottery funding via UK Sport, but the non-Olympic sports of driving, endurance, reining and vaulting, although supported where possible by the World Class Programme, do not receive direct funding for the event. Both Joanne and Hannah are part of the British Vaulting Team going to WEG and are currently trying to raise £12,000 to get their horse to Kentucky.
A variety of fundraising initiatives have been launched to help support the trip to Kentucky for all the British teams. These include an online auction with new exclusive lots added each month and the opportunity to buy Team GBR merchandise which ranges from clothing to a recently launched silver bracelet, generous donations are made to the teams for all items sold. Further information about all the fundraising activity can be found on the official Team GBR website.
All the news and behind the scenes views in the run up to and during the Games can be found on the official website, including the opportunity to sign up FREE as a Team GBR Supporter to receive regular updates. Visit www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk for more details