SUFFOLK skier Tom Jarrold secured a number of good finishes at the British Schoolboys' Championships in Switzerland.The 14 year-old from Hoxne, near Diss, who was representing his school, Framlingham College, only arrived in the country the day before.

Skiing:

SUFFOLK skier Tom Jarrold secured a number of good finishes at the British Schoolboys' Championships in Switzerland.

The 14 year-old from Hoxne, near Diss, who was representing his school, Framlingham College, only arrived in the country the day before.

The youngster, who is a student at the British Ski Academy in Les Houches, Chamonix during part of the winter, flew out to Geneva the evening before his first race.

The championships, which took place in the Swiss resort of Meirengen, attracted more than 100 racers in the category for under 15 year-olds.

Jarrold was fourth in both slalom and giant slalom races, only a few hundredths off a second off the better finishers.

Straight from that competition, Jarrold travelled to the Swiss resort of Les Crosets, near Champery for the Welsh Open Championships.

There he had another fourth place finish in the giant slalom and finished fifth in the slalom.

Jarrold said: “I was very happy with my results, especially since I had three important science exams at school in the week immediately before the two championships events, so I had no time to train.

“My first priority was to wax and edge my skis in preparation for the races, then I had to be up at 5.30 the next morning.

“After breakfast we had a one and a half hour drive to Les Crosets, where I collected my race number and I was straight into my first race.

“It was all rather rushed compared to other racers who are spending a full season at the academy.”

Jarrold will have more time to prepare for his next event, having a week of snow race training in the mountains during February half term, before moving on to Bormio in Italy for the English National Championships.

In between the Welsh and British Schoolboys' events in Switzerland, Jarrold returned to the BSA base where pupils were given time off to watch the world's best ski racers in live action.

Les Houches annually hosts the World Cup downhill race and the Suffolk racer was able to meet winner Marco Sullivan from the USA after his victory, as well as collect autographs from other top racers.