Freya Anderson, Marta Bassino and Ellen Keane compete around country
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 22/01/19 11:45am
Three Sky Sports Scholars were in the heat of competition at the weekend to kick-start their new year in lively fashion.
Swimmer Freya Anderson was part of an 18-strong GB squad at the Flanders Cup in Antwerp and the 17-year-old European champion was the star of the show by gracing the podium twice.
On day one it was gold in the 100m Freestyle, and on day two she swam a lifetime best of 1 minute 59.17 seconds to secure victory in the 200m Freestyle.
"I'm really happy with my races at the weekend and I feel I'm in a really good place," she said.
"I feel I can practice my processes much better throughout my races and I cannot wait for the rest of the season and to get back to the hard work back home."
Italian skier Marta Bassino would have been hard pushed to improve on her incredible bronze in the Giant Slalom at Kronplatz last week in the World Cup.
There were no podiums for the 22-year-old but she let nobody down on the Italian slopes in Cortina with a 21st and 26th place in the downhill and on Sunday just missed out on the points in the Super G by one place.
"I was expecting a better performance in the Super G but everyday I've learned something new," Bassino said.
"It was a great speed weekend and I'm really happy about my efforts in the downhill."
Para-swimmer Ellen Keane shrugged off a bad ear infection to compete in the Regional Leinster Open in Dublin.
Despite the illness, the 23-year-old Paralympic 'veteran' was just happy to be competing again.
"I was just doing race practice rather than being 'full steam ahead' so it was good to shake the cobwebs off," the Dublin swimmer said.
"The time wasn't as fast as I wanted but it's only January and it's a good starting point for the year."
