BEAMINSTER School Year Seven student Olli Loder competed for the first time at the UK Cable Wakeboard National Competition held at the Liquid Leisure complex in Slough.

At an impressive venue, much bigger than the youngster has been used to riding on, the course was labelled the hardest in Europe.

At just 12 years of age, Loder was the youngest competitor in the under-15s group, and also the least experienced, being the only one who had not been to the Nationals before.

That did not have a negative influence on the Beaminster pupil’s performance however.

He completed two superb clean and accomplished rounds but did not quite make it through to the finals, where only the top two go through.

Loder also only just missed out in the last chance qualifier stage the following morning, despite improving his score by an impressive 11 points.

Loder’s mum, Pip, said: “I am immensely proud of his achievement and his determination to attempt some of the craziest obstacles on the park.”

Although the final results are yet to be confirmed, it is thought that Loder is now placed seventh in the country in the under-15 category.