And the results are in! Speed and stamina were of the essence this weekend at the British Lead and Speed Climbing Championships, and they sure weren't lacking!
Held at the Beacon Climbing Centre in North Wales, Britain's top climbers headed over to compete against each other with both Emily Phillips and Billy Ridal impressing us all by taking the titles for both Lead and Speed in this year's Championships.
The Highlights
The Youth C competitors put in a great fight on the long technical routes set by our excellent expert routesetting team. There was a count-back for Hannah Kerr and Erin McNiece as they both topped the final route and there was a strong fight for first place between Alfie Duckworth and Jack MacDougall in Youth B. Over in Youth A, Megan Wyatt put in a great performance and ended up snatching the top spot whilst Finley Wood took his third consecutive win. On his Instagram, Finley wrote "I’m really happy to have taken the win making it my 3rd year running winning the British Lead Climbing Championship. I had a fight on my hands this year after not feeling like I climbed well in the qualis on Saturday ."
In the Seniors, Emily Phillips scored the top podium spot as she continues her successful 2019 medal streak. Jo Neame and Hannah Slaney followed tightly behind her on the podium, with it coming down to their second and third place positions being decided by time.
2019 British Lead and Speed Champion Emily Phillips. Photo: Ray Wood
Hamish McArthur - who won second place at the World Youth Climbing Championships just a few weeks ago - came in with another silver spot at the weekend with Billy Ridal taking the overall win for the Seniors after his strong performance in Zakopane the week before!
BMC President Lynn Robinson was at the Championships to cheer on the competitors and said: "It was really great to watch the Lead and Speed Climbing Championships at the Beacon Climbing Centre....and what a spectacular event it was. It's a real privilege being able to watch such world-class performances close-up. Thank you to everyone who took part and many congratulations to all the winners. And of course, the competitions wouldn't be possible without the volunteers, route-setters, staff, coaches and parents, so a huge thank you to all ".
And on that note, we also want to say a massive thanks to our routesetting team: Yann Genoux (who flew straight out to Kranj to routeset for the IFSC Lead World Cup starting in a few days), Andy Long, Max Ayrton, Gavin Symonds and Emma Twyford, as well as Jury President Scott Forsyth and Mark Alderson plus all the volunteers that put in their time and support into the competition.
WATCH: British Lead Championship Highlights 2019 on BMC TV 📺
VIDEO
FULL LEAD RESULTS
Lead Podiums
Youth C
Male Female
🥇 Dylan Soin 🥇 Lily Kinnersley
🥈 Rhys Conlon 🥈 Ava Gracey Hamilton
🥉 Kai Main 🥉 Izzy Bridgens
Youth B
Male Female
🥇 Jack MacDougall 🥇 Erin Mcneice
🥈 Alfie Duckworth 🥈 Hannah Kerr
🥉 Finn Hayward 🥉 Willow Petrobelli
Youth A
Male Female
🥇 Finley Wood 🥇 Megan Wyatt
🥈 Dayan Akhtar 🥈Hannah Williams
🥉 Stephen Keir 🥉 Lauren Barnett
Seniors
Male Female
🥇 Billy Ridal 🥇 Emily Phillips
🥈 Hamish McArthur 🥈 Jo Neame
🥉 Alex Waterhouse 🥉 Hannah Slaney
Speed Podiums
Junior Female Junior Male
🥇 Saveena Fillingham 🥇 Matthew Fall
🥈 Lauren Barnett 🥈 Pierre Shankland
🥉 Hannah Kerr 🥉 Louis Langlands
Senior Female Senior Male
🥇 Emily Phillips 🥇 Billy Ridal
🥈 Emma Davidson 🥈 Alex Waterhouse
🥉 Jen Wood 🥉 Samuel Butterworth
WATCH: British Speed Championship 2019 on BMC TV 📺
VIDEO
A big thank you goes out to the Championship sponsors Beta for the holds, Mammut for the ropes, Petzl for the prizes and Beacon Climbing Centre for successfully hosting!
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