South Woodham & Wickford Rollerspeed Skating Club member Helen Warlow was a member of the Great Britain team that faced strong competition in the first ever European Absolute Indoor Speed Skating Championships, in Italy last week.

The Italian, Spanish, Belgian, Portuguese and Slovenian national teams, as well as a host of European domestic teams all showed up to give Great Britain a run for their money but with the second largest team there, they were to be no push over.

The racing started on Saturday morning with the 200 metre sprints.

With 75 entrants, British skater Ben Summers fought hard to get 12th overall.

The women skaters did not fare as well due to the immense competition and the slippery conditions but both Carolyn Bright and Helen Warlow, 18, from Burnham-on-Crouch, put on brave faces and did not give in.

In the 5000 metre points race Britain's Chris Stafford raced well to gain an impressive 16th place.

Chris Orgill, however, did less well in this race, being disqualified for a mistake he will not soon forget. However, he more than made up for his mistake in his next race, finishing ninth after a fierce battle in the 1500 metres event.

Saturday ended after nearly 19 hours with a group of tired skaters, all of whom had to be fresh the next morning for the final and most gruelling race, the 8000m elimination.

All skaters worked well in this event but all credit went again to Chris Stafford who finished sixth overall after working with the Italian national team.

Stafford had nearly been disqualified in the heats after a mistake by a judge left his place in the final in jeopardy, but justice prevailed and his position was safe.

This was one of the most impressive displays by the Great Britain team in a long time, and the team was: Chris Stafford, Chris Orgill, Ben Summers, Adrian King, Ben Gaskin, Carolyn Bright and Helen Warlow, with Dave Kelly (coach/manager), and Steve Perkins (assistant manager) doing their share.

Great selection: Helen Warlow

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