Wisbech Grammar School’s Eve skates to Euros

A teenage skater will be the youngest representative for the UK at the European Inline Skating Championships later this week.

Eve McInerney, a fourth form pupil at Wisbech Grammar School, is the only female to be called up for the championships, which will take place in Lagos, Portugal, between July 1 and 8.

McInerney, 15, will be part of the 1st year Junior B team and will be competing across a gruelling schedule covering a series of sprints and marathon over 10 days.

In preparation for the Championships her coach and father Mike – a previous European Champion himself – is fully aware of the challenge facing his daughter.

Eve’s coaching schedule is full-on with training up to three times a day, including in her dad’s greenhouse on a bicycle.

She also goes to London once a week to train on a track for inline skating.

Eve was inspired by her father to start skating at two years old and has not looked back. The competitive spirit certainly runs in the family and Eve successfully juggles her school work and her inline skating.

Skaters will enjoy the new speed track of Lagos, already used for the international tournament of Terra do Infante.

Wisbech Grammar School’s Tom Calow said: “We are very proud of Eve’s achievements and her commitment to combining her sporting commitments and her academic studies.

“She is a great model for other pupils and we wish her the best of luck at the championships.”

Wisbech Skaters at Birmingham: see page 78.