WILTSHIRE College & University Centre student Zoe Raymond is hoping to pull off a memorable triumph when she heads to South Africa to represent England at the World Tug of War Championships.
The 16-year-old, who is studying a T Level in Livestock Production at Lackham campus, only started the sport for fun with the Beaminster Young Farmers in Dorset when she was 12. “If someone had told me back then that I’d be pulling for England, I’d have said ‘you’re mad’,” she said.
“I just started doing it for fun but then we started going to competitions and we got quite recognised because we got pretty good at it.”
After competing at events in Ireland and Switzerland she was asked to go to a trail for England and was amazed when she was told she had been picked. “When the coach told me, I thought ‘what? It’s amazing,” she said.
She will travel to Cape Town on Saturday with two of her club teammates and her mum Sonia before going on to Mossel Bay where the championships start on Wednesday.
Zoe doesn’t yet know what categories she will be pulling in because she missed a training day last week when she was moving into her college accommodation at Lackham.
“There’s a weigh-in on Tuesday so I’ll know more then,” she said. “It’s going to be an exciting week because I’ve been to Spain but I’ve never travelled that far before.
“While we are there we will go on a safari and visit Tabletop Mountain, which will be really good. I’m excited about going.”
The competition has open categories on Wednesday and Thursday and closed categories that are more strictly governed by competitors’ weights, on Friday and Saturday.
To stay sharp and fit she trains twice a week and tried to keep to a protein-rich diet. Despite the stresses and strain of competition she has managed to stay fairly fit, apart from a knee injury that means she has to wear a knee brace.
Although the Tug Of War Association helped fund the trip, she still had to raise money through a cake sale and a bingo evening at the restaurant she worked at.
She says she doesn’t get nervous before competitions, even when she will be representing her country. “I like competing and there’s a good social side so I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
Everyone at Wiltshire College & University Centre wishes Zoe the very best of luck at the World Tug of War Championships. We look forward to hearing all about her experience when she returns to Lackham.
